By Charlie Cummins – bbmm.ie
Google recently announced the addition of interactive cards to YouTube videos for both desktop and mobile devices.
The company stated that the new feature is an evolution of annotations, which will allow creators to inform viewers about other videos, merchandise, playlists, websites and more. Google’s stated goal for the cards is to replace annotations entirely at some point in the future. The new interactive cards feature looks more visually attractive than the existing annotations and is, according to Google, much less intrusive.
However, not everyone is enamoured of the new feature, as in the words of one commentator; “YouTube has come up with a new way of fouling up your videos as well as annotations with new interactive cards, which will be a marketer’s dream but a viewer’s nightmare.”
To access the new feature, you’ll find a “Cards” tab in your Video Editor that lets you create and edit cards any time you’d like.
When we were discussing this option in the office toady, our content manager Eoin almost immediately ripped the concept apart as being a nice idea – but very limited. We are anxiously awaiting Eoin’s upcoming post about his experience on this, and do hope that he includes his own personal YouTube channel link for some shameless self promotion. That would be worth a hashtag. Over to you Eoin!
