YouTube to Broadly Release Call-To-Action Overlays, Allow Linking Off-Site
[Today], YouTube is going to release a very important addition to its suite of advertising products, and it has the potential to have a huge impact for politicians, brands, and charities alike. The funny thing is, you probably thought it was already out there.
The product’s official name is the Call-To-Action Overlay, and it’s about as straightforward as ads come: it’s a semi-transparent pop-up that links viewers to any website you choose. For example, I could place an overlay on a TechCrunch video inviting users to visit the corresponding post we wrote about it. Yes, it’s that simple.
Via @PatrickRuffini
The "Future is Being Written" at PdF '09: Day One Recap
If you're not able to join us in New York City today for the first day of Personal Democracy Forum 2009, you might be interested in recaps and analysis of the initial chunk of the day from the likes of MediaBistro's Amanda Ernst, who covered the morning's opening keynotes. You might enjoy coverage of New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg's discussion of data-fueled open government by CNET's Caroline McCarthy, New York Future Initiative's Joe Pompeo, and the New York Times' Sewell Chan and Patrick McGeehan. And you can read Craig Newmark's summation -- "[the] future is being written at Personal Democracy Forum 2009 -- for a dose of the flavor of today's event.
This morning, Google's YouTube opened up its Reporters' Center - a new hub for teaching citizen journalists to become better reporters by teaching them about how to prepare for interviews, be better investigative reporters, and how to help media organizations in the news-gathering process. Interestingly, at the same time as YouTube is trying to help citizen journalists, Google is also encouraging professional media organizations to join the YouTube Partner Program and upload more videos to YouTube that can then be featured on Google News.
Google argues that by joining this program, news organizations will be able to reach a wider audience, cut hosting costs, and be able to interact with YouTube's large (and often highly vocal) user base.
