Google has continued its push to localize YouTube across the world where it can get closer to its users and viewers. On Thursday, June 14, 2012, YouTube launched its dedicated local video site in Indonesia. Like it did in other countries, YouTube is aiming for an improvement for the discovery of local videos, and to identify and promote local content.
The Indonesian version YouTube is available through the location setting at the bottom of the YouTube website, or by going directly to YouTube.co.id. The Indonesian YouTube site is supported by a number of media and entertainment companies, as well as major advertising brands.
In launching its Indonesian localized YouTube, the company signed up with a number of local companies, including Kompas TV, Kompas Cybermedia, Viva Media Group, MyTrans, and local music labels Aquarius Musikindo, Musica Studios, Trinity, GP Records and Nagaswara . YouTube is also working with Unilever Indonesia, Telkomsel, BCA, and an e-commerce site BliBli.
At the launch, Adam Smith, Director of Product Management for YouTube Asia Pacific said "we hope that Indonesian artists, musicians, filmmakers and video creators of all kinds will embrace the YouTube platform to share their stories with the rest of the world."
The deal is significant for local media players and brands as it will help give their content a more prominent position on YouTube, helping them to avoid being lost among the crowd on the world’s largest online video site.
In anticipation of the localized service, YouTube has signed a licensing agreement with Wahana Musik Indonesia (WAMI) which will allow Indonesian musicians and composers represented by their labels to earn ad-based revenue from the site.
"YouTube Indonesia is featuring videos from Indonesia. From billions of videos on YouTube, Indonesian video contents can be accessed by internet users that wanted Indonesian content faster and easier," said Rudy Ramawy, Country Head Google Indonesia in Fairground, SCBD Sudirman, Jakarta.
The logo for YouTube Indonesia is "wayang" and "Monas". The purpose for this logo is that both are representing the identity of Indonesia. "As people see it, people will know its Indonesia," said Rudy Ramawy. Wayang is a Javanese word for particular kinds of theatre or sometimes "puppet", while Monas is a national monument, a tower located in the center of Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta, symbolizing the fight for Indonesia. "So Indonesia let's broadcast ourselves," closed Rudy Ramawy.
The opportunity is not limited to local brands and artists as YouTube has signed similar agreements with Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong (CASH) and the Taiwanese music copyright society (MUST), to allow foreign copyright holders to earn revenue based on videos played in Indonesia. Each is looking to gain greater visibility among the country’s 240 million population.
The event saw Indonesia officially confirmed as one country where live Olympic coverage will be broadcast via YouTube, as had been announced last week.
YouTube that was created by former PayPal employees in 2005 and owned by Google since October 2006, has launched its local version in many countries in Asia, such as India Singapore, The Philippines. The localisation is very much a global effort, and it has seen new services in Africa - including Uganda and Kenya - Europe and South America