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October 14, 2009
We Watch More YouTube Videos than We Conduct Google Searches
Now, we all know search is important. And we all know that Google is the leading search engine.
But here's a factoid that continues to amaze marketers:
In August 2009, Americans watched 10 billion videos on YouTube. That same month, Americans conducted 9 billion searches on Google.
Yep, Americans watched a billion more YouTube videos than they conducted Google searches.
The data comes from comScore, a reputable source. And the reason that it may have flown under the radar screen is that it comes from two different reports.
The YouTube data comes from comScore Video Metrix, which reported that 120.5 million Americans watched an average of 82.6 videos per viewer.
The Google data comes from comScore qSearch, which reported that 169.2 million American conducted an average of 53.2 queries per searcher.
So, do you want to be found when someone conducts a search for a relevant term on Google? Of course you do.
But do you want to be found when someone looks for a relevant video on YouTube? You should.
A lot of marketers are trying to get their arms around social media -- like Facebook and Twitter. These are both important. But YouTube is a video sharing site -- which is also a form of social media.
And according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 62% of Internet users in the U.S. have watched video on a video sharing site. This compares to 46%, who have used a social networking site, and 11%, who have used Twitter.
So, why is YouTube often left off the marketing to-do list? It's a mystery.
But, you can start to get your arms around the topic by watching the YouTube video below.
Greg Jarboe of SEO-PR discusses YouTube and Video Marketing at SES London 2009
You can also get a sense of why YouTube is neither fish nor fowl by reading the TubeMogul report entitled, "How do people discover videos online?" More than 45% of viewers find videos through direct navigation to a video site -- i.e. going to YouTube and running a search or clicking around the featured or related videos. But more than 44% of viewers find videos embedded in blogs.
Finally, you can attend the YouTube & Video Optimization session at SES Chicago 2009. I'll tackle this issue head on -- and provide you with proven, practical guidelines for developing and implementing video marketing for your organization.
With more YouTube videos being watched in America than there are searches being conducted on Google, you will want to find out what it takes to get your videos discovered, watched and shared.
Posted by Greg Jarboe on October 14, 2009 8:29 PM
Comments
Mike from Drop Ship October 14, 2009 10:49 PM
Today video marketing the best option for social media optimization. If you would like to find out youth visitors at your website then you have to go for social media optimization and youtube can play an important role in this.
I really like your statics for video marketing and these can boost us for effective marketing.
SEO India October 15, 2009 5:19 AM
A very interesting article and some astonishing figures. However one reason i believe Search still out ranks Video in terms of companies marketing budget is that search yields a much higher ROI. If people are searching for a product and/or service they are further down the decision process than someone just browsing around YouTube. There are many more steps in the conversion path through Video Marketing than Search Marketing.
Neil M Hancock - Silverbean October 15, 2009 6:54 AM
Video marketing is definitely the way to go to appeal to more clients. A good mix of video marketing, social media and normal marketing would greatly benefit any company wanting to promote their business.
Oliver October 15, 2009 8:43 AM
Neil, we know how to measure the ROI of search. Google has been around 11 years, but YouTube only four. So, we've had time to learn how to connect the dots. But Monty Python's channel on YouTube increased sales of their DVDs 23,000%. I share that case study in my book, YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day. So, YouTube can further down the decision process, too. But most of us are still exploring how to do that.
Greg Jarboe October 15, 2009 11:22 AM
Hi Greg, I agree with you, search is more streamlined in its efforts to calculate ROI as it has had more time to evolve, unlike YouTube, although Video has been around before YouTube. However it's more the users mindset i was mentioning, as it clearly differs when searching through Google than when searching through YouTube. If people were looking to purchase a service or product they would use a search engine before YouTube, therefore the conversion process is much shorter. As YouTube and YouTube marketing grows peoples mindsets may change, but thats for the future...
Neil M Hancock - Silverbean October 15, 2009 12:18 PM
I wonder how many of those 'video' views are music videos.
These days many people use YouTube as a jukebox. I'm currently listening to a song on YouTube while typing this.
Jeremy Brown - JBGuru October 15, 2009 3:10 PM
I like the jukebox analogy. People watch a series of videos. Which is why getting found in related videos is an effective way to get yours discovered.
Greg Jarboe October 15, 2009 7:49 PM
Wow I think this is great insight! Does anyone know if we can access Youtube via content network on Google Adwords. And I suspect most folks are watching those videos on mobile tools.
singapore-seo-guy October 16, 2009 4:33 AM
Video marketing is such an effective way to engage your target market. I believe that online video advertising is also the smart way to go - I wish You Tube Promoted Videos was available to Canadians.
SEO-Guy October 16, 2009 12:29 PM
This should make ANY marketing or business consultant take one of those jaw-dropping, Warner Brothers cartoon-like screeches to a halt. There may be conversion and ROI realities that impact the immediate uptake of this channel, but there is NO way to ignore 10 billion looks, no matter how you cut it.
I am writing this up as my 'article of the month' in my newsletter.
Clemens Rettich October 18, 2009 8:02 PM
Thanks, Clemens. I agree. This is too big to ignore.
Greg Jarboe October 18, 2009 9:36 PM
Excellent statistics, thanks for posting. There's an easy to understand "video marketing tutorial" on YouTube which explains how it all works which might be of interest. Here's the link;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzb9K4sF0F4
Graham Majin October 30, 2009 2:56 AM
Excellent statistics, thanks for posting. There's an easy to understand "video marketing tutorial" on YouTube which explains how it all works which might be of interest. Here's the link;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzb9K4sF0F4
Graham Majin October 30, 2009 2:57 AM
Videos have so much visual appeal. Videos marketing is always a good option to improve business.