Official YouTube Blog: government

Your Ticket to Davos

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Davos Debates programenter the runningDavos channelRamya Raghavan, News and Politics Manager, recently watched "White House Tree Time-Lapse"

Heating up the 2010 midterm elections with In-Stream Ads

Monday, August 23, 2010

This post is part of the “BizBlog Series,” which was formally its own blog. Check back each week to see articles about partners and advertisers on YouTube, or search under the label 'BizBlog'.
Getting elected to the House or Senate these days is no longer as easy as putting up some yard signs, holding babies and smiling at the local senior center. With 68% of U.S. voters heading online before they vote to do research on local ballot initiatives, being online is crucial to getting elected. For the last couple of election cycles, we have seen how important it is for politicians and issue advocacy groups to maintain channels on YouTube — but when it comes to advertising, most campaigns get their messages to constituents through online ads across search and the Google Display Network with tactics like Google Blasts.

This cycle, dozens of races in 15 battleground states are incorporating a different ad format into their campaigns: In-Stream Ads. Using In-Stream Ads, candidates and issue advocacy groups have reached millions of U.S. voters this primary season. The best part? It straddles that line between digital and TV advertising: most campaign managers and political agencies are taking their standard made-for-TV 30-second ads and simply re-purposing them to run on YouTube. Campaigns can target locations (like their state or district), as well as content categories on YouTube, allowing them to tailor their message to specific groups of constituents. For example, a candidate interested in reaching young moms might target nutrition, fitness, health and parenting categories.

Defeat the Debt, a non profit group driving issue awarenessof the national debt, has already reached over 1 million people by running In-Stream ads across the country. In some markets they have even opted to run In-Stream instead of TV ads due to their effectiveness. Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett has also run In-Stream Ads in conjunction with his television campaigns, reaching almost 500K potential voters in Wisconsin on YouTube. Senatorial candidates Marco Rubio (Florida) and Dino Rossi (Washington) have also implemented campaigns.

While we can’t predict how politicians will actually do once they’re elected, it’s clear that their campaigns are taking advantage of the latest ways to engage and inform voters on important issues in 2010.

Amy Barth, In-Stream Ads Specialist, Google Elections and Issue Advocacy, recently watched ”Guy Walks Across America”

Bob Dudley, Chief Executive for BP Response, answers your questions about the oil spill

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

latest information on the crisis and responsePBS NewsHouryour questions

ask BP questionsGoogle Moderatoryoutube.com/citizentubeCitizenTubelive stream of the oil gushing into the waters of the Gulfanswered questions submitted by YouTube usersOlivia Ma, YouTube News Manager, and Ginny Hunt, Google Public Sector Manager

Celebrating Internet Safety Month

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Internet Safety Monthspotlighting videos

Community Guidelines: This is our description of what is and isn’t allowed on the site. You should read these Guidelines before you post content, or if you see something that you think maybe shouldn’t be on YouTube.

Flagging: If you see something that you think violates our Community Guidelines, flag it! The flag icon is located below the video player. When flagging a video be sure to let us know which of our policies you think the video violates and we’ll review it.

Safety Mode: A setting that you can opt in to that will filter out content that may be inappropriate for sensitive users and teens. This setting reduces your chances of stumbling across content that you may not want to see.

Unlisted Videos: These videos don’t appear in search results and only people who have the video's link can view them. Unlike private sharing, there’s no limit to the number of people who can view unlisted videos.

Help & Safety Tool: A tool that allows you to report privacy violations, block users and report harassment and bullying anonymously.

Mandy Albanese, Policy & Communications Associate, recently watched "Digital Citizenshop - Who Will You Be?”

Your interview with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

[Cross-posted from the Google Public Policy Blog]Prime Minister Stephen HarperGoogle Moderatorthe deficitchild care

Posted by Jacob Glick, Google Canada Policy Counsel

The Internet in America: A YouTube Interview with the FCC

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

invented in the U.S.United States President Barack ObamaCitizenTubeCitizenTube

Access and Affordability

Open Internet / Network Neutrality

Others (learn more at Broadband.gov)

Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics, recently watched "The Internet in 1969".

Iraqi Voices: Voter Perspectives on Election Day

Monday, March 8, 2010

news reportsAl Jazeera EnglishplaylistVideo Your Vote

This video documents the actual voting experience in Iraq:

And this woman explains why she will not vote in this year's election:

If you're from Iraq or have thoughts about the Iraqi elections, upload your videos to the Al-Jazeera website (http://interactive.aljazeera.net/iraqelections) using YouTube Direct and your video might be shown on television.

Olivia Ma, News & Politics Manager, recently watched "التصويت الخاص للجيش (محمد الصالح" (with subtitles)

YouTube Interviews: Pelosi, Boehner, Reid Answer Your Top Questions after Health Care Summit

Friday, February 26, 2010

CitizenTubeNancy PelosiJohn BoehnerHarry ReidYouTube Interviewhealth care proceedings become more transparent1. What is the explicit reasoning behind mandating the purchase of healthcare services?
- Chris, University of Florida

2. Do you believe that healthcare is a right, or that health insurance is a right?
- Brian, Student

3. Thompson Reuters had performed a study in which they concluded that 40% of healthcare waste was from unnecessary care. Unnecessary care is primarily a result of a fear of being sued, aka malpractice. What is being done to address malpractice?
- JatPat, Chicago, IL

4. Why not quit artificially limiting the market? Stop tying health insurance to employers and increase the market dramatically. Allow insurance providers to sell across state lines and increase it even more. The larger the market the lower the price.
- crodgers1981, Lincoln, NE

5. All people voting on these bills should be required to personally read the entire bill before being allowed to vote on it. It is ridiculous that these bills are thousands of pages long. Bills should be written in clear language.
- Blinn, Illinois

YouTube has become the place where leaders can connect directly with citizens around key events in the political process. That opportunity for meaningful dialogue makes politics feel more personal, more democratic, and opens up Washington in exciting new ways. Stay tuned for more YouTube interviews, and let us know in the comments who you'd like the chance to speak with on this platform.

Steve Grove, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched "White House Health Care Summit Part I."

The White House Answers More of Your Questions

Friday, February 5, 2010

announcedYouTube InterviewCitizenTubeWhite House YouTube channel

CitizenTubeSteve Grove, Head of News and Politics, recently watched "Presidential YouTube Interview - behind the scenes"

Your Questions for President Obama

Monday, February 1, 2010

ModeratorCitizenTube

"Why are the health care meetings, procedures, etc not on CSPAN as promised?" - Mr. Anderson, Texas

"How do you expect the people of this country to trust you when you have repeatedly broken promises that were made on the campaign trail. Most recently, the promise to have a transparent healthcare debate..." - Warren Hunter, Brooklyn

whitehouse.govThe YouTube Interview with President Obama

Live Tonight on YouTube: The State of the Union

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Tonight at 9 p.m. ET we'll be livestreaming the President's State of the Union address on YouTube. As we announced yesterday, not only will you have the opportunity to watch the speech live online, you'll also be able to submit your questions for the President during and after the speech, and the President himself will respond to a collection of your top-voted questions in a live interview at the White House next week.When the State of the Union address begins at 9 p.m. ET, we'll open a Google Moderator series on CitizenTube (youtube.com/citizentube) that will allow you to submit and vote on questions (in text or on video) for the President. Be ready to submit your questions right after the speech as we'll only keep the platform open for a few days.
How will we know which questions to bring to the President in the interview? You'll tell us by how you voted. After the votes have been cast, we'll assemble a shortlist of the top questions, ensuring that we cover a range of issues, minimize duplicate questions, and include a mix of both video and text submissions. This is your opportunity for an exclusive interview with the President, so be sure to submit great questions and vote for the ones you think should be asked.If you're submitting your question on video (which we prefer), please be sure to keep it short (20 seconds or less) and use the highest video and audio quality possible so that we can hear you loud and clear.After the speech, we'll highlight the video of the entire State of the Union address, so those of you who aren't able to see it live can still watch and participate afterwards. We'll also feature Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's official GOP response to the President's State of the Union, in what promises to be a lively and important discussion of our nation's future in 2010.See you tonight at 9 p.m. ET on CitizenTube.Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics, recently watched "NEWSWEEK & YouTube: Nouriel Roubini on the 2010 Economy."

YouTube's All-Access Pass to Davos

Sunday, January 24, 2010

youtube.com/davosLoic LeMeurRima MaktabiAl ArabiyaNicholas KristofNew York Timesfemale genital mutiliationJulia Lalla-Maharajh.
And as usual, we'll be streaming your questions at our YouTube booth at Davos, too.

One value of the Moderator tool is that it allows you to engage via video and text. You can also vote up the most important ideas and questions submitted by others to help determine which issues you want the panelists to address. We used the same platform in Copenhagen for the CNN/YouTube Debate on climate change, and will continue to use it in 2010 as a way to bring your participation to televised events.

Go to YouTube.com/Davos and join the discussion now. Here's more information about each panel, including the deadlines for submission:

January 20: The Growing Influence of Social Networks

Host: Loic LeMeur (Seesmic), Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Reid Hoffmann (LinkedIn), Owen van Natta (MySpace), Gina Bianchini (Ning), and others

January 21: The Balance of Power in the Middle East

Host: Rima Maktabi (Al Arabiya)

January 30: YouTube Debate on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Host: Nicholas Kristof (The New York Times)

Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics, recently watched "Al Arabiya Debate"

Iraqi Government on YouTube

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Governments, heads of state, and leaders from around the world are on YouTube, including the Pope, the Royal Family, and Queen Rania, and presidents from the United States to France, South Korea to Estonia. Today we're especially pleased to announce that the Iraqi Government has launched a dedicated YouTube channel, at youtube.com/iraqigov. Learn more from Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki:

Earlier this year, I visited Baghdad as a guest of the U.S. State Department to engage in conversations about the role of technology in Iraq. In discussions with elected officials, private companies and NGOs, I routinely heard the desire to connect with fellow citizens, Iraqis outside the country's borders, and cultures across the world. But it wasn't just the Iraqi Government who expressed an interest in YouTube — I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of awareness from a wide variety of Iraqis. One young student told us she uses YouTube to understand what is really happening in her country based on the variety of opinions, citizen journalism and news reports uploaded to the site. There was little difference between her examples and those we often hear in other countries, which speaks to both the global community on YouTube and the universality of the video experience.
Just this past week, our CEO Eric Schmidt traveled to Iraq to meet with government officials there about the challenge and opportunities they face. While in Iraq, Eric shot this video for Citizentube:

We hope that by launching on YouTube, the Iraqi Government and their citizens will also find it easy to use YouTube to engage in such conversations, and bring their proceedings, policies and ideas to a larger audience around the world.
Hunter Walk, Director of Product Management

If Only Every Homework Assignment Had Prizes Like This...

Monday, September 21, 2009

Department of Education's YouTube channel

www.ed.gov/iamwhatilearn
Ramya Raghavan, News and Politics, recently watched "Media Multitaskers Pay Mental Price."

Official Blog