Neworld, Great relationships build great brands

Youtube has spent much of 2010 ramping up its service offering to both viewers (to keep them  on the site for longer) and to brands (for the cash). One recent addition to the Youtube stable has been Youtube Trends – a service that lists what is hot right now on the video network. In the words of Youtube;

“The idea for YouTube Trends started with our desire to find new ways of identifying the viral and newsworthy content people love to share and packaging it in an easy to digest format. With over 35 hours of video now uploaded to YouTube every minute, we wanted one place to distill the videos people were sharing and discussing with their friends as well as understand what YouTube could teach us about our culture and current events.”

Surefire Viral Success

Trends won’t guarantee you surefire viral success, nothing will. But Trends will keep you right up to date on what video content people are watching and sharing online, that includes trending topics and trending videos. It’s a research tool that provides near real-time information on what video content has grabbed the attention of viewers – useful for video marketers, brands or those who love their viral videos. By keeping current you understand where your industry has come from can identify where it’s going, and can utilise this information to inform future marketing strategies.

Top viral lists have been available through third party websites before. But with access to some analytic data Youtube can present the videos based on geographic location, gender and age. Check out the Youtube Trends dashboard here for yourself, and see whats going viral in your area, or compare your region with up to three different locations. This first step is a welcome move that Google will hopefully build on in the coming months with even more analytical detail and insight. There’s more information on the Youtube Trends Blog, the Youtube Trends FAQ’s and in the video below.