Recent changes to the Youtube comments system have had users up in arms. From 400,000 Reddit users spamming the Google’s product forums to another 150,000 people signing a petition on Change.org, users obviously want to see these changes revoked. [1][2] However, Google’s track record shows that they tend to move forward with their revisions. Things are looking relatively grim for protesters as Google has yet to respond to their outrage.
Logically, this move would hurt Google more than it would benefit them. After all, businesses like Google rely on a user traffic in order to generate ad revenue from companies. By alienating the user base, Google is detracting from its service and losing traffic. However, I believe that this is largely theoretical. For example, when Facebook first implemented its “Timeline” format for the site, there was an equally (if not larger) backlash. The situation panned out fine for Facebook as the voices died down. Google is well aware that Youtube has such a massive database of videos that users cannot replace the site with any others. This lack of substitutes is exactly why Google is able to push the boundaries so far and in the end, is able to get away with it.
Original article: Bloomberg
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[1] Change.org
[2] Google product forums
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