Embedding / Scraping Youtube videos and comments

[Planet13]

Hi there, Everyone:

It seems like I have seen a lot more sites popping up that have the keywords in the domain, and they basically feature an embedded youtube video, the scraped comments from youtube, and a rather brief text description of the video (which might be scraped, too).

Oh, and they feature adsense on these sites LOTS of adsense.

Has anyone noticed more and more of these lately?

Part 2 of this question:

I actually had been thinking of something similar, and I am wondering if this might get me in hot water.

I had planned on embedding videos that were not in English, and providing an English language summary of what is happening in the video. Because some of the videos cover unusual rituals / cultural phenomena, this would allow me the opportunity to write a significant amount of original text regarding those videos.

With The Panda running wild, does this sound like a possibly dangerous idea?

I wouldn't be scraping any text content, and I wouldn't have any adsense on the pages, but they would be pages on my main site, so I don't want to risk anything.

[indyank]

I don't want to risk anything.

Don't risk anything on your main site.

[Planet13]

Hi ya, indyank:

Don't risk anything on your main site.

Thanks for the re-affirmation.

But let me ask you, do you think it would be risky?

I would embed you tube videos (which I am pretty sure is ok - after all, they give out the code fore embedding the videos right on the youtube page).

I would NOT scrape / copy any of the comments or any of the text on the youtube page. I would instead write my own narrative of what is happening in the video. The accompanying text would be all original.

I know that a picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words, but because the videos are related to cultural activities that might not be familiar to English speakers, my text would try to provide context to what is happening in the video.

Does that sound like it might provide usefulness to visitors? Or does something like that sound more like Panda chow?

[dickbaker]

You wouldn't be providing original content with the video, so it's possible you could be Pandalized.

[Planet13]

You wouldn't be providing original content with the video, so it's possible you could be Pandalized.

Yeah, I certainly thought about that.

It would seem strange that google, via youtube, would encourage you to embed their videos, but then might punish you for doing that...

But I guess that is just one of the mysteries of the google algorithm...

[tedster]

But if you're providing a good translation, that is original and also a good added value for the visitor. Done well, I don't foresee a problem. Just don't use machine translation.

[Planet13]

Thank you, tedster

Done well, I don't foresee a problem. Just don't use machine translation.

Yeah, it would be more of an "explanation" as opposed to a translation.

The way I think of it is that I would have written articles on those particular aspects of culture, anyway. Just that I wouldn't have had any pictures to illustrate those articles (and I am not about to go around illegally using other people's photos).

So the main focus of the page would be my written text, while the videos would be an adjunct to it - something to just support the text.

anyway, that is how I look at it. Just worried that google might not see it the same way. Especially in lieu of the youtube scraper sites appearing in the SERPs.

[ken_b]

Here is a thread that may be relevant.

Fair Use [webmasterworld.com]

[mromero]

"The way I think of it is that I would have written articles on those particular aspects of culture, anyway. Just that I wouldn't have had any pictures to illustrate those articles (and I am not about to go around illegally using other people's photos)."

Why can't you go and take your own pictures or license pictures?

[walkman]

You might get penalized by the raters, so long term is a loser IMO. Unless, say, you write about how good /bad Obama is in 400-1000 words, and then include a few youtube vids to illustrate your point.

But, I have a very good cctld domain with youtube vids and many pages rank with nothing else, just a script that lists the youtube vids I choose. I think I changed some titles a while back, but that's it, and the template. But it's not with ads or anything and I know not to expect anything from it.

[Planet13]

@mromero:

Why can't you go and take your own pictures or license pictures?

good question: the cultural events take place many thousands of miles away from where I live, so I can't conveniently take my own photos. Although licensing is an option...

@walkman:

Unless, say, you write about how good /bad Obama is in 400-1000 words, and then include a few youtube vids to illustrate your point.

Yes, that is similar to what I am thinking of doing.

You might get penalized by the raters, so long term is a loser IMO.

I am not sure which raters you are referring too. My page wouldn't have a way to rate the videos.

[kidder]

We often do our own videos upload them to Youtube, then we put them into our blog using Youtube to provide the live feed. We also have our own unique content on page and we get the link from Youtube as a nice bonus, if you do things the right way it can drive traffic and help build a brand. Don't take shortcuts and you can benefit from this sort of thing.

[mromero]

"I am not sure which raters you are referring too. My page wouldn't have a way to rate the videos."

I believe he was referring to human raters in a sweatshop somewhere manually reviewing your pages for the search engine....

[seoN00B]

i have two websites in this concept that has been pandalized.

could not even found in google index. :P