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YouTube Spotlight/YouTube
minds in the gutter
YouTube Red already has a porn problem, just not the one you think
Many have already made the comparison to a porn site shortly after it was announced.
LAST NIGHT, YOUTUBE announced its premium version of its service called YouTube Red. Essentially a paid tier on top of the free service, it allows users to watch videos without ads, listen to music in the background and download videos.
The service is only available in the US for now and it’s not clear when it will be made available in Ireland.
Yet what has been gaining the most attention is the name itself. According to the company, the name came from how much the colour red is associated with YouTube, after having talks with both users and fans.
That hasn’t stopped numerous comparisons to a porn site with a very similar name soon after it was unveiled.
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This comparison doesn’t seem to bother YouTube where one of its executives said it’s “not too worried about that other site” and that a lot of consumer testing was done before it settled on the name.
There are many other porn sites out there whose names are references to YouTube, mainly as a way of piggybacking on its success. For example, RedTube was founded in 2007, two years after YouTube was launched, and Google hasn’t taken action against it or any other NSFW sites with similar names.
The service will first launch in the US on 28 October. It will include original programming at the start of 2016 and will range from short videos to feature-length movies from established YouTube stars.
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