Filed under: Business, Fun, Video, Web services
YouTube launches localized versions in Europe
YouTube, the top destination online for videos, was once lacking in two areas, localized content and accessibility. The website served only as a platform for users that spoke English and views from a PC. That was then.Enter now. As we spoke about in the latest Googleholic, YouTube launched localized versions of its popular video sharing service throughout Europe. The new versions of the site are targeted at users in Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, UK, and the U.S. At the moment, the video content is pulled from YouTube's U.S. based site, but as time goes on more local content will get added to the database.
This new local market proves to visitors that YouTube is serious about making their service as accessible as possible. YouTube Chad Hurley made the announcement at a press conference in Paris that the big thing for YouTube in 2007 is access. This comes only a few days after the launch of YouTube for mobile devices, whereby users can now view video content on mobile phones through a special portal, and an announcement about Apple providing YouTube content through the new Apple TV box.
I don't know if this is a labor of love or merely the brainchild of four very gifted games designers, but Level Up is a really weird mash-up of gaming elements that you have probably never seen in a Flash game before.
Let's start with the premise itself: Groundhog Day meets Memento. The game experience revolves around 'days': you explore the world and the clock slowly ticks towards the evening. You bounce around picking up gems and talking to the denizens of 'Level Upland'. Eventually you feel tired and head back to ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Haochi said 8:05PM on 6-19-2007
You make it sound like that Brazil is somewhere in the European continent.
Reply
Chris Gilmer said 8:23PM on 6-19-2007
Ok, sorry. YouTube's main focus is in the European market.
Reply
fddfgdfgdfg said 2:36AM on 6-20-2007
What is said on the second page of the article about Germany is interesting. I wonder what exactly they mean when they talk about the "mind-set"/tastes of German users to be so different (especially because it seems that they think that ONLY German users have that special mindset, and that all other Europeans resemble the US users... strange).
Reply
Benjamin said 10:30AM on 6-20-2007
I wonder if this won't lead to a fragmentation of the content, bits and bobs spread around over the different sites. Like with Google now; it constantly refers me to my local sites while I want global results. Yes, even when I go to google.com. It's actually more irritating to me than useful (as I could refine my search to local if I wanted to).
http://youretime.wordpress.com
Reply
ThwartedEfforts said 8:50AM on 6-20-2007
I was going to echo fddfgdfgdfg's comments. They make it sound like Germans are some sort of superior aliens. Which of course is how they like to be perceived :8)
Reply