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> This partially explains the success behind YouTube

I thought the success of YouTube was largely due to their low bars for quality of content. Put simply, they allow all kinds of crap as long as it generates views.

Vimeo's model is quality content from indie producers, actually they are similar to SoundCloud in some ways.

Think about this: for example NASA has plenty of quality audio and video materials, where should they upload it? SoundCloud and Vimeo would be the best choice and it's what they do. It's quality content not exactly "publishable" via music labels or television, and yet it's pretty good.

Not everyone wants to be on the Internet's sewage system that's YouTube, and not everyone wants to go the costly publishing route. There has to be a niche for this type of media. I'm sure monetization can be figured out when there's clearly a market for it.



I think YouTube's success is mainly that they were first, there were always free to use so there was no reason for anybody to look elsewhere. It's hard to compete against free and established services. You basically have to find a killer feature (and hope that the established service will be slow to copy it) or pay people to do the switch.

>Not everyone wants to be on the Internet's sewage system that's YouTube.

Yet basically everyone is. Content producers want to reach their audience, viewers want to find the content they care about.


> I think YouTube's success is mainly that they were first

Actually, Vimeo's first videos[0] were uploaded a month before YouTube's[1].

[0] https://vimeo.com/15 [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw


I think Google Video also launched slightly before YouTube, if I'm remembering and reading the dates right.



Wikipedia said January 25th for some reason


Video search was launched then, but you couldn’t submit your own videos.


Thank you for pointing it out, for some reason I thought that Vimeo was significantly more recent.


NASA isn't your typical indie producer, because their content generates views and because they can afford pro subscriptions.

Also NASA is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/nasatelevision

I'm not saying that Vimeo doesn't have a market. But their market is quite small and it definitely isn't for hobbyists.


> Vimeo's model is quality content from indie producers, actually they are similar to SoundCloud in some ways.

Not coincedentally, SoundCloud is run by a former Vimeo CEO.




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