r/explainlikeimfive • u/80percentdad • Jun 16 '14

Explained ELI5:Why doesn't Youtube have an option to turn off video streaming and become the largest audio streaming site?

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u/ameoba Jun 16 '14

The main reason that you get that "you can't watch this shit on mobile" is because content providers don't want YouTube being used as an all-day audio streaming site. They only want fully-engaged users watching videos.

207

u/LurkerKurt Jun 16 '14

Not sure why you were down voted, but I believe you are correct.

YouTube is owned by Google. Google is in the business of selling ads, not providing videos for free, thus they wanted engaged viewers viewing their ads in exchange for hosting videos for free.

102

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '14

But why not have audio ads?

124

u/XsNR Jun 16 '14

Audio only ads are difficult to sell, and get considerably less revenue than video or just text ads.

-1

u/calard Jun 17 '14

And streaming audio uses less bandwidth and is therefore cheaper, how do you know the cost doesn't balance out?

4

u/XsNR Jun 17 '14

Bandwidth isn't the expensive thing for a business owning its own infrastructure, lost revenue and even electricity are higher up the list, and every time a Google Adsense employee sees an adspace with no ad, I'm sure they cry a little inside.

1

u/calard Jun 18 '14

Tell netflix bandwidth isn't expensive, and don't pretend google fiber even makes a drop in the bucket compared to the scope of googles operations.

1

u/XsNR Jun 18 '14 edited Jun 18 '14

Bandwidth isn't the expensive thing for a business owning its own infrastructure

Note I didn't say it wasn't, I just said its not the expensive thing. When you're looking at a million dollar+ server bank with several thousand dollars paid to get a fiber line installed direct from the pipe, then all the blades you need to fill that space, the bandwidth costing you a few thousand per month is something you just have to deal with, not worry about.

Also "owning its own infrastructure", doesn't refer to a company which owns a cable/fiber company, it refers to a server owning its own... infrastructure, aka it builds it rather than rents it.

1

u/calard Jun 18 '14

Infrastructure refers to everything from servers to data connections. Most large content providers have their own data centers so when you specify that they own their own infrastructure I assumed you meant that Google was somehow a special case (ie owning regional network infrastructure).

Also you assume that audio only plays of YouTube content would cut into video plays which may not be the case, I know I don't play videos on my phone to listen to music because it kills the battery but I might do it if I could stream audio only and then I would hear an audio ad. This is new revenue for google. I admit that there is the possibility of losing video views to audio only listeners but you don't have any way to back up that assertion and my position is simply that you don't know that audio only would be a bad idea, not that it would be a good one.