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Very few people know this, but I remember when MySpace almost killed YouTube. Yes, MySpace. YouTube blew up in popularity when everyone was adding videos to th

Very few people know this, but I remember when MySpace almost killed YouTube. Yes, MySpace. YouTube blew up in popularity when everyone was adding videos to their MySpace profiles. And suddenly one day MySpace decided to block all YouTube embeds (they'd occasionally do this with other services as well.) At the time YouTube was just a small startup without much muscle behind it. All they could do is write a blog post pleading their users to contact MySpace to allow their videos. And it worked, a week later MySpace lifted the ban and it allowed YouTube to reach astronomical growth. Edit: Here's a link to the blog post mentioned https://web.archive.org/web/20051223152529/http://youtube.com/blog https://web.archive.org/web/20051223152529/http://youtube.co...

ceeK 11y ago
It's nice to hear of things like this. It's refreshing to remember that even the most successful startups had to go through make or break moments, and that it wasn't all smooth sailing.
hippich 11y ago
lucky youtube, since myspace totally could instead "import" videos when detecting embed.
- pjc50 11y ago
  What do you mean? Bulk copyright infringement?
  - dublinben 11y ago
    As if any of the content on Youtube at that time was licensed? They owe all of their early success to "bulk copyright infringement."
fzn 11y ago
https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=justinrotnluk https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=justinrotnluk Funny to notice the profile was suspended... Twists. Edit: that user was especially thanked by YouTube on the latter IA blog post.