Youtube

YouTube doesn’t have a schedule of shows to base the ads that will be shown alongside its videos. So instead, as CGP Grey explains, the site holds split-second ad placement auctions based on information and estimates about you and the video you’re about to watch.

What was one of the most popular videos in the early days of YouTube gets revisited, with the cast of finger puppet Harry Potter reuniting to celebrate 10 years since the original, and taking advantage of today’s much improved video streaming quality.

(PG-13) “…I like YouTube because people can’t make me stop.” Casually Explained walks us through the steps needed to ace the 21st century dream job, from accepting your demographic to inevitably selling out.

Super Bowl ads cost up to $5 million for 30 seconds of air time. The Film Theory turns into to the Digital Marketing Theory to argue that those ads don’t work. So companies are better off spending their money on a spot where their ad can be on primetime all the time: YouTube.

(PG-13: Language) Videogamedunkey made his own version of YouTube’s annual recap video, focusing on his favorite – or the opposite – YouTubers, including Angry Video Game Nerd, H3H3 and Jaboody Dubs. YouTube views are a hell of a drug.

Conan O’Brien recently stopped by New York City’s YouTube Space to check out their virtual reality lab, where he doodled a 3D self portrait, destroyed some guy’s cubicle, ate some virtual food, and learned how the tech might change our lives (or at least porn) for the better.

Roberto from stuffwhatidone discovered an oddly pleasant noise that his 2002 Audi makes whenever he opens its glove box. Of course, the Internet couldn’t leave that alone, and now it’s a complete song, courtesy of musician Duncan de Heusden.

Google employees Nat and Lo spoke with some of their co-workers who handle YouTube to give us an overview of how it compresses and stores the videos we upload and how it distributes those copies around the world.

YouTuber Many A True Nerd spawned a new kind of let’s play video. He made an abridged playthrough of Fallout: New Vegas in the style of Choose Your Own Adventure books to let us dictate how the video plays out. Turn annotations on.

YouTube’s April Foo – er, April Fizools’ Day prank combines its new 360º video feature with everyone’s dream couch buddy Snoop Dogg. The SnoopaVision button lets you watch Snoop Dogg watch a YouTube video. Videos here and here.

That funky mix of letters and numbers at the end of a YouTube URL is the unique pointer to any of the millions of videos on the site. Tom Scott ponders if and when they’ll run out of video IDs, and the rationale behind the current numbering scheme.

YouTuber Kara West made lemonade out of anesthesia. The numbing drug administered to her for a dental crown operation left half her face numb, making her look like Two-Face.

YouTube celebrates its 10th birthday with an alphabetical, animated compilation of some of its most popular videos and genres, set to Blackalicious’ Alphabet Aerobics. YouTube, you da real MVP.

YouTube now supports 360º video playback on Chrome and on Android devices. You can change the camera’s perspective both while the video is playing and when it’s paused. See more examples here, here and here.

On February 15, 2005, the world’s most popular video sharing site was founded. In honor of its 10th anniversary, The Daily Conversation compiled 101 of the most popular YouTube videos from the past 10 years. List of videos here.

YouTubers will soon be able to combine different shots of the same event in one video. The feature is called Choose Your View and it will let viewers seamlessly switch perspectives while the video is playing. Check out the demo here.

A gathering of YouTube’s biggest celebrities and the people, animals, songs and memes that went viral this year, including Last Week Tonight, the Spider Dog and of course Frozen. The message is clear: YouTube is the new TV.

(NSFW: Language) YouTuber Maddox pokes fun at some of the most annoying, yet common practices on the popular video site. Seriously, YouTube should have never added annotations. And who really wants to see an unboxing?

(NSFW: Language) Another YouTube comment reconstruction. This time Dead Parrot’s talented thespians reconstruct a thread between two commenters arguing about the video “Soccer Player Accidentally Slaps A Referee’s Boobs.”

Made by Sean Anderson, Streamus is a free browser extension for Chrome that lets you stream music – or any audio – from YouTube. It has its own popup window and lets you save playlists and find related music.

(NSFW: Language) Dead Parrot and his Oscar-worthy actors return for another reenactment of a flame war between two strangers on YouTube about this video. We’d really like to see these gentlemen read some proper lines for once.

(NSFW: Language) Dead Parrot cast two old men to recreate an online argument that erupted in the comments section of a One Direction music video. Sadly the mockery will probably be lost on the very people who made these statements.

As if Taylor Swift’s music wasn’t already a little overbearing. Overly Attached Girlfriend Laina Morris recites selections from Swift’s songs in her typical clingy and creepy fashion. Eesh. Anyone remember Fatal Attraction?

(NSFW: Language) WorldWideInterweb sings us some of the many highly literate, politically correct comments you can find underneath videos on YouTube. Makes you wonder why they don’t just get rid of comments once and for all.

Meet Shula Von Hollow. Shula is the “Stanley Kubrick of cat videos” – directing her furry “catctors” for the World Wide W for the last 15 years. She’s also the only person we know of who can make a cat do anything.