Updated with some traffic figures.
I wonder if this is related to this. Or if the former will cause more of the latter.
Networking sites can change in popularity at a moments notice for a large number of reasons; here, poor technical support and the lack of communication and customer service about the issues seems to have caused rumblings in the communities surrounding youtube and the lack of activity and response to it (in contrast to the behaviour of Flickr) has led to people looking for alternatives.
And then, a couple of days ago, users started making videos about a newly discovered alternative: LiveVideo.com. The response was remarkable. As if scouts had located water in the desert, hundreds of YouTube users went over to LiveVideo and began registering their screen names (many of the most popular were too late and had their names scooped up by opportunists of various stripes) and posting what sounded like liberation videos, singing the praises of LiveVideo’s flawless functionality and hate-free environment.
Now, a few hundred users may be a drop in the ocean, but they could be a core that have driven the success of the site and losing them mean there’s a challenger on it’s way.
Update: Andy emailed me with details of this post on Compete. Google Video and YouTube between them own 51% of the market.
* 58 million people viewed at least one video online in December ‘06
* 14 out of the Top 20 video sites received over 1 million unique visitors
* The top 4 sites received over 10 million video related visits
* The top five sites account for 80% of the online video mark
Now, as i saif the YT revolt looks like the drop in the ocean, especially as YT has double the market of it’s nearest rival, but it’s a sign that you can’t keep everyone happy all of the time.
