Viral Video

Google's YouTube just reached more of the planet, with Wednesday's release of native-language versions available for four more of the world's languages, for a total of 28.

While the focus at General Motors Co. in the last several months has been on the change to VP-Marketing Joel Ewanick, on re-shaping Chevrolet and Cadillac, and on the automaker's impending initial public offering, very quietly the Buick brand has become a driving force for the company.

Facebook will unveil its new official live video streaming channel, Facebook Live. To kick off the launch, actress America Ferrera will stop by Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, California and use Facebook Live to announce details of her new movie, "The Dry Land," a Sundance Film Festival entry.

Real-time buying and selling of ads through automated Nasdaq-like exchanges are the rage in online display advertising. So it would make sense that the same trend would take hold in video advertising, right? Well, no, partly because the formats themselves aren't standardized and sites use a complex array of different technologies to attach ads to video.

YouTube's newest updates include the "Playlist Bar" which makes an appearance at the bottom of the home page featuring all your recommended, subscription, or favorite videos. Other updates include the "Local Music Listings" addition, an updated "My Videos" page, and the "Badges" tool.

They are all questions that remain to be answered by a new market of connected TVs. Curiously, the IETV may be popular with the less-than-early adopters who just want connectivity but aren't necessarily spoiled by many Web-to-TV bridges many of us have been playing with for years.

At this week's OMMA Ad Nets and OMMA Behavioral shows just about everyone was buzzing admiringly over last week's landmark Old Spice Twitter + Video campaign. And yet while Weiden + Kennedy was setting a new high bar for online video innovation there were still successes in the garden variety branded entertainment category. Hot on the heels of the popular Man on a Horse campaign was a nerdish rap from comedy duo Rhett & Link on behalf of Dentyne.

You know soccer has hit the big time in the U.S. when it's at the center of a ratings dispute between ESPN and CBS Sports. The spat stems from ESPN saying earlier this week that the 1.1 million people who watched at least some of the U.S. soccer team's 1-0 World Cup win over Algeria Wednesday represented the largest audience ever for a sports event online -- beating the Duke-Butler NCAA championship basketball game earlier this year.