14 DAY TRIAL // YouTube made its name by giving users the power to put their videos on the web. It opened the door to millions of people who might not have had the means or the technical ability to host a video online. In recent years, YouTube has moved away from this model and is embracing professional video as the engine for growth. But a new set of services, like Ustream or Justin.tv, has popped up to enable users go one step further and stream live video online. YouTube has so far stayed away from this market, but that may be changing.
TechCrunch noticed that a screenshot on one of YouTube’s help pages shows a ‘suspicious’ looking button labeled “Live Stream.” Google has recently launched Google Moderator for YouTube, a tool which enables content creators to get better feedback from their viewers, even when they number in the millions. A screenshot highlighting how to enable the new feature also shows the Live Stream button along with the usual tools available to channel owners.
The speculation is that this may point towards a new feature that may be in testing internally for now, but which may be planned for a wider roll out in the future. This is a plausible scenario, Google always tests new products and features internally before releasing them into the wild.
In this case, though, there are some sings that this may just be a tool YouTube uses internally, not one intended for a public launch. The screenshot features the dashboard of the ‘citizentube’ account dedicated to political and policy issues. The account sometimes features live streaming so the button makes sense in this context.
YouTube has streamed live events several times in the past, so the technology and the tools to use it are already in place. So the screenshot, in this particular case, may not reveal anything about YouTube’s future plans. However, rolling out the feature to trusted partners and eventually to every user is still a possibility and the only thing holding YouTube back are the legal implications.