Video Web Hosting

What is video web hosting? Why do people use video web hosting? How does video web hosting compare to other web hosting services? Keep reading for answers to these video web hosting questions and popular video web hosting sites.

While image web hosting may or may not provide services for hosting of video content, video web hosting is specifically for videos. Placing videos on the Internet is not only a way to share the family vacation: today, videos capture the most important current events, entertainment, and conveys an important amount of the advertising done by top companies. To learn more about video web hosting, keep reading.

What Is Video Web Hosting?

A video web hosting service provides uploading and downloading capability, storage space, and organizing abilities for individuals to post video clips. The videos are stored on the video web hosting service's server, and able to be viewed and in some cases, downloaded. Another name for a video web hosting service is a video sharing website.

Why People Use Video Web Hosting

Some people use video web hosting either for increased storage, because video files use a very large amount of space. Using video web hosting is also a solution for a limited bandwidth capacity on one's own site. The video web host service is an ideal venue for sharing video, especially that shot on video-capable mobile phones, which conveys well through this distribution method. Posting in one area and having multiple viewers access from that central location is also handier then other solutions for sharing with multiple parties.

Video web hosting can also help spread your video to a broader audience, including clients and customers. New technology provided by video web hosting services such as YouTube allows video to be viewed on mobile devices.

Another use of video web hosting is to be able to incorporate video into a blog, This is a specialized use in which a blog is video-enabled so that rather than sending viewers elsewhere through a link to view a video, video can be imbedded on the blog page.

Differences Between Video Web Hosting Services

Differences to look for between video web hosting sites include the following:

• Audience - do you want to control who sees your video or share it with anyone who stops by?
• Other material - what are the next and previous videos likely to be like and are they good company for yours? Are viewers likely (from a review of the site ) to post irrelevant or obscene comments, or to interact respectfully with your work? Do you have any control in this area?
• Uploading Capabilities - what are the means for uploading? do you have to download anything? are there limits to the devices you can use for uploading?
• Capacity - what are the limits on storage space, bandwidth and file size, if any? Will paying more change any of this, should your need for capacity grow?
• Terms of Service - what, if any, are the restrictions on contents besides not posting material that you do not have the rights to? Are you licensing your material by posting it, and if so, what are the licensing terms?
• Under what conditions, if any, can your account be terminated or your material removed?
• What, if anything, is the cost of the service?  

Popular Sites that Offer Video Web Hosting

Some sites primarily function as video web hosting services, like YouTube, while others have multiple services in their lineup. Flickr and Photobucket are two examples of sites that are known as image sites for photographs, but also provide video web hosting. FaceBook and MySpace are social networking sites that accommodate video postings. Hulu focuses on streaming video of TV shows and movies supported by commercials. Google Video is a service that offers free video web hosting for sharing videos, as well as a store called the Google Video Store. In addition, Google search is available to locate not only Google but also YouTube videos.