YouTube opens Partner program to everyone, monetize your content now

Jordan Kahn

Up until now, only some of the most popular videos on YouTube reaching millions of viewers had the opportunity to become a member of the partner program. The privilege provided content creators the ability to monetize their videos through advertising and access  to features exclusive to partners. Starting today, YouTube is allowing anyone in 20 supported countries to instantly join the partner program by opting-in here. The only requirement is one piece of qualifying content that can be monetized.

While this is definitely a huge development for content creators looking to earn money from their YouTube videos, initially new partners will not have access to all features of current partners. For example, new partners will not have access to the custom thumbnails and banners, which are among the most popular features exclusive to partners. YouTube confirmed it is working on making these features available in the near future.

As of today, the Partner Program will roll out to everyone in the following 20 countries:

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Hollywood shuns Google’s presence at White House dinner, still angry over antipiracy legislation protest

E. Betters

Google is attending this year’s annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, but the movie-making industry is anything but excited about the Internet giant’s presence.

According to The New York Times’ blog, the dinner is a large Hollywood affair equipped with buffets, banquets, and after-parties, where entertainment stars, media moguls, and famed celebrities alike gather to party the night away and mingle with the country’s most powerful politicians.

Google’s Eric Schmidt is a fresh face on this year’s guest list, but many show business executives, still scorned by the defeated antipiracy legislation earlier this year, are perturbed that the executive chairman plans to appear.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based Company’s role in conquering the hotly-debated legislation, coupled with Schmidt’s co-hosted pre-event party with The Hollywood Reporter in Washington on April 27, is just salt on the wound for many media executives.

The Los Angeles Times even noted the party does not “go unnoticed in the community.”

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150 Princeton students offered choice of Google Apps or Office 365, 2 of them chose Office 365

E. Betters

Princeton University’s Office of Information Technology recently polled 150 students who tested Google Apps’ Gmail and Microsoft Office 365 and results showed only two preferred the latter.

According to The Daily Princetonian, the undergraduate student government is collaborating with OIT to move the student body from its current email server Webmail to either Google Apps or Microsoft Office 365.

Google Apps is a cloud-based productivity suite that features several Web application user-interfaces similar to traditional office suites—like Microsoft Office 365. The services vary per edition but generally include Docs, Gmail, Calendar, Talk, Sites, Groups, Video, and Marketplace. Its popularity among students and educational institutions is rapidly increasing due to enhanced sharing features, accessibility, and cost.

Google Apps for Education is just one edition that offers 25 GB of storage space per user for free through K-12 schools, colleges, and universities with up to 30,000 users. Forty-million active users currently use Google Apps, and according to US News & World Report, 61 of the Top 100 schools have switched to the educational service.

USG IT Committee Chair Josh Chen said the University’s polled students prefer Gmail due to its “many benefits and no drawbacks.” Meanwhile, U-Councilor Lily Alberts said the poll’s results likely attribute to the student’s prior familiarity with Gmail during pilot testing. The group of 150 students piloted the two options, and those students came from a pool that replied to an earlier campus-wide email.

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Feature

Google I/O registration opens 7 a.m. PDT March 27, last year it took less than an hour to sell out

Seth Weintraub

Google opens its registration for its annual I/O conference on March 27. Remember, tickets sold out last year in under an hour so set your alarms!

The conference also moved from May to June this year where Google will debut many new technologies, including some Glasses hopefully. While we do not have official word on the Glasses “Project WingFront,” we were told by a Google employee that this year’s I/O was going to be “totally insane.” Perhaps so insane that Google moved from a two-day format to three days this year.

 

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Google also updated its I/O website with some fun and games. Read more