Did you know YouTube has a certification program? It’s a not-so-secret but not-very-public series of courses the Google-owned company launched sometime around December 2012 that puts employees at select multi-channel networks and YouTube service providers through an intensive curriculum that dives deep into the intricacies of the world’s largest video sharing site’s ecosystem and technologies.
The not-very-public certification process became just slightly more known to the masses in recent days when a YouTube Certification Program page appeared in Google’s support subdomain. The short explanation revealed the company currently offers certification for the “Audience Development” track, which includes expert education in the following:
So, who’s completed the classes and passed the tests so far? Here’s a list of the current crop of YouTube Certified organizations:
And these are the ones that completed the certification program outside of the US:
It’s an interesting mix of multi-channel networks and entities that are helping content creators maximize their YouTube audiences in a number of ways outside of the player, but what does it mean that they’re now certified? As far as we can tell, two things:
YouTube cannot possibly offer the kind of support necessary to accommodate all of its creators, which are now uploading upwards of 100 hours of video every minute of every day. They need educated partners to assist their internal staff in spreading the site’s best practices to the internet at large. The certification model ensures individuals and organizations that work with YouTube are circulating accurate information about the site and how it functions. It’s also a tactic Google has employed with its other products (including Google Apps, Google AdWords, Google AdSense, and more) to presumably beneficial effect.
That’s where the benefits of YouTube Certification appear to begin and end. At least for now. Perhaps these YouTube Certified organizations will, at some point, be offered access to special tools or insights, but as of today and as far as we know, the badge means they’re really good at YouTube, really good at taking tests about YouTube, and know at least a few people at YouTube.
YouTube photo by Rego.
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