Commercial use of video hosting

Video hosting has become an integral part of many a major corporation's advertising strategy. YouTube, with its millions of daily viewers, has become a crucial link between companies and those customers seeking more information on products. For example, most video game companies (even smaller, independent studios) utilize YouTube to release promo material for upcoming titles. Nearly as soon as a video is released on a company website (often times even before) it is also often released on YouTube along with tags for people to locate the video. Add to this the dozens of fan-made videos after release and you get a perfect storm of product hype and viral advertising that spreads like wildfire across the internet and drives people to the best products offered. It is a dual-edged sword, though. Along with the hype generated by studio- and fan-made videos, you also get the nearly parallel release of review videos. In some cases, reviews are good and can increase sales. Other times, they can be quite negative and can sink sales of products, especially negative reviews by trusted YouTube users. The nature of YouTube is that both sides of the fence are available for all to see. In the end, though, it is usually the potential customers that win out in the end.