YouTube Tests Offering Video Downloads

That's right.  There have always been a ton of third-party scripts, sites, plugins, extensions and other applications available across the internet that enable the downloading of Youtube videos.  YouTube's terms of use still state that the videos on Youtube are only to be accessed for streaming:

SEE ALSO: YouTube Tests Live Video In Home Page Banner Display Ad

"a contemporaneous digital transmission of an audiovisual work via the Internet from the YouTube Service to a user's device in such a manner that the data is intended for real-time viewing and not intended to be copied, stored, permanently downloaded, or redistributed by the user”.

Despite this, it appears that Youtube is now testing the option to provide a link to users to download certain videos.  Videos from Barrack Obama's YouTube channel ChangeDotGov have a small download link below the player as shown in the screenshot above.

"YouTube is rolling this out slowly, initially with content that aspires to be consistent with principles of open government. I'm told it will be offered more generally. In any case, it is an important development. There have always been hacks for slurping down YouTube videos. But it is a valuable step that YouTube encourages and supports this sharing," notes Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Stanford University.

Although Youtube clearly is one video site that is NOT in need of too much SEO work, adding a link to allow users to download the video file is a well-known video SEO technique that assists in helping crawlers more easily discover video content.  Kudos to Youtube!

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