Upside & Downside of using YouTube

Today, YouTube videos are embedded on more than 30 million websites, making it the most popular video player on the internet. The YouTube team is clearly doing something good & users love it. However, as useful as YouTube is for sharing videos, there are some places where it could be better, especially when it comes to embedding them on your website.

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The Pros(Upside)

1. Ease of  use and management

In addition to being the go-to place for finding videos on any subject imaginable, Youtube makes it simple for anyone to embed videos on their own website.

The ease of uploading and embedding a YouTube video has made it a popular on-site video management option for individuals(solo-preneur), small businesses(SMBs), and even companies with annual sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Upload & embed is simple & easy

2. Free hosting

One of the most attractive aspects of using YouTube to handle video on your website is that the content is hosted for free. The last thing you want to have to think about (or spend money on) as a website owner or a small business is video delivery & distribution bandwidth.

Youtube helps you keep costs low

3. Discoverability & traffic generation

We all know how much traffic YouTube can send your way if you've uploaded videos to YouTube that reference your website during playback or have your URL linked in the video description.
According to some companies we spoke with, YouTube accounts for more than 30% of their traffic. If you took the referral traffic away from those businesses, it would have a huge effect.

Cons(Downside)

1)Embeds siphon traffic from your site

YouTube is as good at sending traffic to your site as it is at re-directing traffic away from it.

How?

They've perfected the art of using "suggested videos" to entice users back into the YouTube rabbit hole. A user is whisked away from your site and plunged into the YouTube abyss with one click on an eye-catching video thumbnail after the completion of your embedded video, never to be seen on your site again.

2)Horrible playback experience

YouTube's player has their branding & logos all over it by way of overlays, watermarks, and the "Watch on YouTube button".

Although this does not come as a surprise, it is counterproductive to your site's professionalism and brand. Your brand should reign supreme on your website.

You've invested a considerable amount of time & effort (and, most likely, money) in ensuring that your branding is memorable and successful.

3)Low ad dollars as revenue

The $2.00-3.00 average CPM received through YouTube's revenue share doesn't cut it anymore as your video content segment rises, assuming you're still getting any CPM on your videos at all.

You'll have to step away from the minimal return of embedded YouTube videos if you want to get serious about earning ad revenue. You cannot have your own ad network on YouTube. This includes paying for an ad-supported media player as well as a hosting service that allows for video uploads and streaming. You have to spend money to make money, as the old saying goes.

4)Lack of customer support

YouTube's customer service, or lack thereof, is well-known.

If you're having problems with one of your site's embeds, you're probably on your own. You can browse through the user forums, but there's no guarantee you'll find anything that will help you with your specific problem.

5)Arbitrary rules and strikes(Big Boss)

When you add YouTube videos on your page, they risk being deleted from both your channel and your website. Due to the subjective existence of the company's guidelines, YouTube can decide that your message or content is inappropriate and remove it by playing big boss

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