March 19, 2008 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – YouTube has launched an API that allows website owners to broadcast video content free of charge, through their own sites – a move essentially putting the company in the free hosting bracket.
Although YouTube provides its traditional video delivery service, players will be “branded”, and through the use of skins, appear proprietary. According to the Google website, YouTube’s API enables users to “upload new videos, edit video metadata such as comments and favorites and modify user settings”. In addition, the client application “can request a list of videos that match specific search criteria, get access to the most popular YouTube videos or retrieve and maintain YouTube user information such as playlists, subscriptions or contacts”.
The introduction of the API shifts YouTube’s identity of video delivery provider to include video publishing solution provider and will no doubt have an impact on a number of companies involved in providing video delivery on a cost basis. The API will be a particular threat to Yahoo! who recently purchased video platform provider Maven Networks.
