Veoh to users: Can you see me now?
As if the 5-min previews and the popup ads in the videos didn’t annoy people enough (especially if you watch anime or drama with subtitles), here’s another pin for the cushion … Veoh recently decided to block countries that didn’t fit into its business plan. There are already over 160 countries named by users, and the list is growing. You can view the user-generated list here. Yes, Vietnam is on the listed. I’ve test it with a Vietnam IP and veoh does indeed block access.
Unfortunately Veoh will be ending service in your country due to a low concentration of users. Veoh is maintaining markets when we have the highest concentration of viewers.
So what does it actually means? Absolutely nothing. Why? Simple. What Veoh says never is the real story. The 5-min preview is never about the bandwidth or resources (otherwise why is there a veohtv? it still stream the whole thing in flash … it would take the same amout of bandwidth). What they are claiming, according to the above, is that since there not that many people from these country, they might as well block them. Umm .. ok .. :/
Truth is NOT that they don’t have enough users in other countries…. is that they tried block other countries because they tend to post movies and content that cannot be controlled by US laws (being outside US and all). Recently, Viacom (who owns Paramont, CBS, MTV among others) sued Youtube for allowing people posted video contents that Viacom claimed is their properties. Viacom had entered partnership with Veoh and allowing Veoh to post their content but some people post a full length movie that really tick this big corporation off so no one can watch anything full length unless you pay for it. Basically, they want to control to have less people watch their content for free. If you want to watch their content (say a full length show or a movie), you have to pay for it.
The above statement made by a user at Yahoo Answers does raise a good point. Profit is always the center of any business. There’s no point in letting user using your resources if you can’t monetizing that traffic. There are several theories floating around the interweb … dig around if you’re interested in the matter.
Once again, webmasters who using Veoh’s embedding player are scrambling to find alternative solutions. Yes, not just the main site that blocking the users .. the embedding player also block them. Why do you think they pushed out the new player right before the block? Without going into much details, here is a quick list of questions and my answers.
Q: Are my contents/uploads/account completely deleted?
A: No. At least for now. Everything is still there, it’s just that the computer that you’re using to access it is blocked.
Q: Is there a way to work around the problem so that I can view the videos again?
A: Yes. With the use of proxies you should be able to. You might have to pay for a more reliable proxy service provider, however. Free proxies are hit-and-miss most of the time. Roughly 10%-15% success rate (my estimate). Not to mention, that free proxies are usually crawling slow, so it’s unusable to view videos through them.
Q: If they are blocking using the new embedded player. Can I still use the old player for embedding?
A: No. The new player will give you an error message, while the old one just won’t load at all.
Q: Should I petition (or beg) to have things back the way they were?
A: You could try. Personally, I think it’s pathetic. However, if you want to do it, don’t let me stop you. While you’re at it, see if they put back the full length viewing.
It’s always sad (or funny, depends on how you look at it) when I see people circulate petitions for these kind of things. When stage6 went down, there was a petition. When veoh enforced the 5-min previews, there was a petition. Now, there’s another petition. Seriously people, this is not a democracy! It’s just business. Unless you’re a member of the board of directors, your opinion doesn’t count. Either live with it or find a way around it. Then, move on.
Addendum:
A day after blocking access to all but 33 countries (including U.S. territories) in an attempt to focus on the most lucrative markets, Veoh announced a $30 million series D financing. Intel Capital is leading the round, and previous investors Shelter Capital, Spark Capital, Goldman Sachs, Time Warner, Michael Eisner and Jonathan Dolgen also participated. This brings the total Veoh has raised to a whopping $70 million.
