Grouper lets video viewers leave video comments
Marshall Kirkpatrick
35 comments »
Grouper, a video sharing site we’ve covered a number of times before, has launched a very cool new feature that could disrupt the crowded world of online video sharing. Viewers can now add their own video comments to Grouper videos and the comments can be watched inside the same embedded player. In just a few weeks the embedded players themselves will be able to record the video comments - right now you have to click through to the Grouper site to record.
Here’s a Wordpress blog post with an example of the new feature, though not all videos autoplay like this one. Account registration is required to leave a video comment, but it’s a remarkably painless registration. Comments appear without approval but can be removed individually by the publisher of the original video.
Text comments are possible in Grouper, but as they say - text comments in response to videos are usually boring.
Grouper used to operate exclusively through a Windows desktop client, but the company told me that since it enabled web based sharing in October its user numbers have grown from 1 million to 8 million. The company was originally funded by its founders (who sold Spinner.com several years ago), a number of angel investors and a $1.5 million investment from Deutche Telecom’s T-Online, the 3rd largest broadband ISP in the world.
The company’s business model is primarily based on corporate partnerships. MTV, for example, has videos featured on Grouper. In another interesting partnership, the company recently announced that Grouper would be folded into the software for Logitech digital cameras. That’s a pretty big deal.
The good news just doesn’t quit for this company. They also told me that they’ve hired Chris Amen-Kroeger, former Director, Streaming Network Operations for AOL and VP of service delivery at Salesforce. Amen-Kroger starts work at Grouper on Monday.
A very compelling feature set, great user experience, big partners and an experienced team. Grouper is a company to watch and a service you might enjoy using.
YouTube has a feature that is VERY similar (identical) to this.
Really? As far as I can see, YouTube only has text comments.
Upon looking closer Ari, I can see why you’d say that, but the fact that Grouper displays comment videos in the embeded player and in a few weeks will offer a record function in same is different than what YouTube currently offers as far as I can tell. Maybe I’m wrong though.
Another site that has video comments (and audio comments) is DropShots, you can see it on their sample site:
http://www.dropshots.com/new.p.....e=20051225
It’s the video and photo sharing site I’ve been using for the last year, it’s pretty cool. They’ve had video comments for the last few months.
Yeah…I would say they are very similar, but you are right…the main difference is the accessibility of the video comments. But I have noticed YouTube is introducing more functionality at the player level. Instead of displaying video comments, they are displaying “similar” videos.
One of the big differences between Grouper and other video services is that with Grouper, users can record video comments over the web on any other video shared on Grouper.com without installing a software our uploading a video clip and video comments will automatically play after the video clip when it is posted to a blog, a personal web page or a social networking site. Other services allow you to upload a video that you’ve already created and associate it with an existing video and this is much more cumbersome and less useful.
In addition, Grouper allows Bloggers to easily record a personal video commentary (see http://grouper.com/wc) without installing desktop software using a Webcam. So, using Grouper, Bloggers can now easily express themselves in a video blog entry using a webcam and blog readers can add their own video comments to the entry. When other blog readers watch the original blog video they can watch all the video comments as well. This helps building an on-line community using video in blogs.
Actually, the features are worlds apart between Grouper and YouTube, based on ease, speed, and actually responding to the video you’ve just watched. Grouper let’s you record a video comment using a webcam right on Grouper.com, and post it instantly. No upload required. All you need is a webcam. Youtube makes you go through their basic web upload process and then associate that video as your “video response”, or search for videos you’ve already created and uploaded, and submit one of them as a “video response.” Grouper’s instant webcam feature wins on the merits of enabling immediate, easy, true responses. Then again (full disclosure) I’m biased. I run the product team for Grouper. =)
And yes, as Marshall pointed out above, Grouper’s external player has no equivalent from YouTube.
Uhh, DropShots gets the video from the webcam and audio for the mic too. Ehh, it really isn’t that hard to do. That functionality is built into Flash Media server.
The functionality Grouper added to the embedded player is a pretty neat idea.
Whatever makes it easier for lurkers to participate is a good thing for a social content site. What percentage of viewers leave comments on videos now?
Ping, that’s a really interesting observation and when I read your comment I thought “yeah! this is a way to get lurkers to get involved!” But you know what? Nearly 10,000 visitors have come to this site since the article above was posted, and who knows how many people have read this article in feeds. Have you noticed how many of those people have used webcams to add a video comment to the demonstration page linked in the post? ZERO. I’m really surprised by that, but maybe I shouldn’t be.
I think a lot of people are missing the real edge to this story…
Scary Puppets.
Good god do those things freak me out. Someone should make a site about scary puppets.
It’s probably yet another example of “Yeah, the technology is there, but nobody is using it.”
MyChingo has offered a free, easy to use audio comment system - been installed on over 600 websites, plugs right into MySpace pages, and even plugs right into wordpress blogs - but only 1,200 audio comments have been recorded.
You can give people everything which they might ask for, but when it comes to actual usage, the numbers are never very high.
Perhaps over time things will change, but they probably won’t change much.
Michael
I Love Grouper.com . I think it’s better then Youtube in terms of social video networks and more things to offer. Youtube might have more traffic, but Grouper was in beta form for a while, I’ve notice they recently change their layouts and video size. The changes will help grouper recieve more traffic.
One of the main reasons I think Youtube has gotten as big as they are is because of the Myspace/Youtube controversy. Myspace has helped Youtube reach their biggest traffic. If Grouper were as controversial I think it can get as big as Youtube, if not bigger. But I doubt Myspace will mention another video site and make it as controversial as they did for Youtube. As far as videos and socialnetworks both are equally good, Youtube just have more traffic.
Grouper’s main component was done with NeoSwiff at http://globfx.com...
Just thought I’d let everyone know incase you needed to know ;p
-william,
Whatever makes it easier for lurkers to participate is a good thing for a social content site. What percentage of viewers leave comments on videos now?
I actually ran number on this question and it’s a steady .0071% whether your video has 500,000 views or 500.
Sad Grouper news this week. The P2P client, the original offering by Grouper in the days before Internet video became all the rage was officially killed. Servers gone, private, encrypted groups sharing/blogging/chatting all gone in the name of GooTubish video sharing. It’s a new day at Grouper. http://forums.grouper.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2
Looking forward for an interesting discussion on this…
I also like the idea.
Think that will be even more popular
Have you ever seen the new “Peel & Clean” laptop cleaning pads? Allows consumers to safely and thoroughly clean their laptops. Way cool, C 4 yourself @ b1p.info
hoi!!
lol
test
vet
test
wefwefwa
hi nice site
[url= hui ] hui [/URL]
hahha