Facebook Live Has Another Competitor

Facebook Live might face competition with the launch of YouTube Connect.

Google is all set to bolster its video streaming service, YouTube by linking live video to the platform as reported by VentureBeat. If the news has any weightage, the company will be in a position to compete with present broadcasting services like Twitter Inc.’s Periscope or Facebook Inc. Live. The recent service will be coined as “YouTube Connect” and will be debuted on Android and iOS.

As per a source, who reported to VentureBeat claimed that YouTube Connect’s mechanism will be similar to competitors. The company will derive an application for the users which will enable them to stream live from their smartphones. The platform will also cater to intriguing features such as tagging users, news feed like layout which will have all the content broadcasted by friends, chat boxes and other profiles which are followed. The news has not been confirmed by the tech giant as of yet.

The intriguing feature of YouTube Connect is that its broadcast can surface directly on Youtube through any browser of live streaming application. These broadcasts can be archived or saved by viewers in case they want to go back to them later. However, the company has clearly stated that the platform will not cater to social networking abilities in the application as of yet. This means that users will not have the ability to share the broadcasts of social media platforms.

Ironically, YouTube presently supports live streaming however; the present model is not that successful. All the users interested to do so are required to make use of the Creator Studio software which isn’t accessible by everybody. On the other hand, YouTube Connect will surface in the form of a standalone application to users.

At present, the market share of YouTube is almost 75% in terms of online video consumption but with the rampant popularity of original live content and live broadcasts, it will be an imminent threat to the conventional business model.

Facebook initially stated that Live videos are experienced three times more by consumers in contrast to conventional videos. This is the reason behind the company’s efforts to get the platform endorsed by celebrities.

By integrating social media platforms with broadcasting services, FB and TWTR have been mildly successful in taking YouTube’s market share. However, competitor Twitch has gained traction via online gaming. Thus, YouTube debuted a gaming platform to compete with Twitch thus now it might just launch YouTube Connect to compete with Periscope and Live.

As far as the monetization is concerned, it is assumed that YouTube will follow Facebook’s footsteps to pay the celebrities for conducting broadcasts regularly where profit sharing deal will be signed by media partners. Ads are placed by YouTube on its conventional streaming platform which might be associated to YouTube Connect. High profile celebrity broadcasts will be via paid subscription.

At this point of time there are numerous possibilities for YouTube connect but the limited social media features can cause restrictions.