vimeo.com

The most popular and widely used site for streaming videos is YouTube, which was one of the first sites to develop a sort of stranglehold over the market. With hundreds of millions of users, it is hard for any video streaming site to compete with this social video sharing giant. Many people around the world have come to despise YouTube for its many advertisements and intrusive ads. If you've spent any amount of time on YouTube, then you know how lousy it is with ads. The basic, free version of the video streaming service has ads that play before nearly every video, most of which can't be skipped. Plus, some videos (especially those on monetized channels) have ads built-in, in increments throughout the video stream.

Many YouTube users have found the site frustrating because there are too many ads throughout a single video. This is something that was not the case when YouTube first increased their advertising.

Since YouTube began placing ads over their content, they have gradually increased the frequency and decreased the user control over which ads they can and cannot skip. Today, I would estimate that a majority of your video watching time spent on YouTube is spent watching advertisements.

One of the reasons that there has been a growing demand for alternative video platforms is because YouTube constantly pushes its premium services on users. Additionally, YouTube often embeds surveys into videos, which adds to the annoyance of using the platform. This is why competing sites have arisen in hopes of stealing away some of YouTube's hundreds of millions of users.

There are a few main differences between Vimeo and YouTube. First, you have to pay to use Vimeo, whereas you can use YouTube for free. Additionally, Vimeo is geared more towards video creators who want to make money from their videos, while YouTube is more likely to be used by users for free content sharing purposes. Finally, Vimeo is popular with a different type of user than YouTube: video makers who want to make money. As a result, Vimeo may not be the best alternative for disillusioned YouTube users.

History

In November of 2004, Jake Lodwick, an American software engineer, and Zach Klein, an American entrepreneur and investor, founded Vimeo. Lodwick is said to have come up with the name - a play on words created by combining ?video? and ?me.? Vimeo, conveniently (or creatively) enough is also an anagram of the word ?movie.? Thus, with a catchy name and a dream of providing the world with ad-free video streaming, Vimeo was born. Specifically, Vimeo now allows professional filmmakers and producers to submit their own content for hosting on the site. Vimeo altered its services in July of 2008 by allowing professional filmmakers and producers to submit their own content for hosting on the site. Previously, only amateur users were allowed to post videos.

In July of 2008, the website announced that they would no longer be hosting gaming videos. The reasons cited were that these videos tended to be long and consumed too much server space. In September of 2008, all gaming videos were purged from the site. However, as Vimeo grew in popularity (and, thus, server space), the ban was lifted in October 2014. As of October 2014, gaming videos are again allowed on the site.

2014 was a significant year for Vimeo as they became the first video streaming service to offer HD videos. In December, Vimeo introduced 4K video support technology, which has since led to nearly every other video streaming platform adding this feature. Today, thanks to the leadership and precedent set by Vimeo, nearly every site on which you can stream videos offers 4K capability.

In September 2017, Vimeo introduced its live streaming platform, acquiring the company LiveStream. This makes Vimeo one of the highest-quality live streaming platforms, even if it took a little longer to get there.

Design

Additionally, the site feels much less cluttered and there are far fewer ads. I find Vimeo's design to be much neater than YouTube's. The font sizes and thumbnails are smaller on Vimeo, for instance, and the delineations between video player, description, comments, and suggested videos is much clearer. Additionally, Vimeo feels less cluttered than YouTube. There are far fewer ads on Vimeo too. I find the website design on Vimeo to be very appealing. The emphasis is placed nicely on the videos you are watching, instead of simply slapping them onto the page like YouTube does. The website looks much more like a true media player with clean lines and well-organized layouts. I think this makes for an excellent design

Content

According to recent reports, Vimeo falls short of YouTube when it comes to the number of videos available and the variety of videos found on the platform. This is likely due to a smaller community of active users on Vimeo as opposed to YouTube. Vimeo's users are relatively small in comparison to YouTube's. This may at first seem insignificant, but when put into conversation with the larger platform, it becomes clear that Vimeo is a much smaller player. The content on Vimeo is also generally weaker in comparison to that of YouTube.

That being said, Vimeo tends to favor quality over quantity. This means that even though the numbers of videos and users are comparatively minuscule, the streaming quality and supportive nature of the userbase is where the perks of the tradeoff come into play.

As I mentioned before, Vimeo offers videos in resolution of 4K, whereas many YouTube videos are grainy. Vimeo also has significantly faster-buffering speeds, whereas YouTube often lags and glitches. Plus, the community of Vimeo is supportive, and many members offer thoughtful and constructive criticism where it is appreciated. Praise is given where it is appropriate on Vimeo comments.

Desktop and Mobile Experience

As I've already detailed, the traditional web browser site is breathtaking. And the app looks equally as impressive. However, in my opinion, the functionality of the app could be improved slightly. It is not nearly as organized or logically laid out as the website is, resulting in browsing that can be a little bit cumbersome at times. It is not the most intuitive app on the market. It is not the worst video streaming app, by any means, but there is certainly a bit of a learning curve before you will become fully comfortable using it.

Pricing and Plans

Vimeo Plus, which costs $9.99/month, offers more features, like the ability to add hosted videos from other Vimeo users, ad-free videos for parents with kids under 13, and the ability to view videos in a more advanced player. The $19.99/year plan gives you access to all of the features of Vimeo Plus as well as unlimited storage space for your videos. The $29.99/year plan gives you even more features, including access to advanced analytics and voting tools so that you can help choose which videos are featured on the site. Vimeo offers four different plans to choose from (in addition to Vimeo Basic, which anyone can use for free). If you're just looking to stream ad-free videos and you don't really have designs or content ideas to create much of your own, the free version will probably suffice. Vimeo Plus, which costs $9.99/month, offers more features like the ability to add hosted videos from other Vimeo users, ad-free videos for parents with kids under 13, and the ability to view videos in a more advanced player. The $19.99/year plan gives you access to all of the features of Vimeo Plus as well as unlimited storage space for your videos. The $29.99/year plan gives you even more features including access to advanced analytics and voting tools so that you can help choose which videos are featured on the site. There are a few different ways you can use Vimeo to create content. One way is to choose one of the plans below if you plan on using Vimeo to create your content.

Vimeo Plus costs $7 per month and provides users with 5GB of storage per week.

Vimeo Pro offers a monthly subscription for $20, giving users 20GB of storage each week.

Vimeo Business offers a $50 monthly plan with no weekly limits and 5TB of storage.

Finally, Vimeo Pro is $75/month and that provides users with no limits, 7TB of total storage space, and HD live streaming.

Suggestions that I Have for Vimeo

My suggestion is that Vimeo should revise their app design in order to make it easier to use and more intuitive to create and edit videos.