Thursday, June 17, 2010

Fox Television usher's in Sneaky "Article Sharing Tactics" for the show, So you Think you can Dance.

If you click on the title of this article, it will take you to the Buddy TV article "So you think you can Dance! Top 11 Dance Clips."

However, Fox Television, (or is it Buddy TV?), has done something very sneaky. Normally, you can view a video clip located within an article without having to do anything but hit play.

However, in this instance, Buddy TV provides the embed code, and it is up to you to copy it and then play it back, somewhere else. In my opinion, this is sneakiness of epic proportions. If a million people are curious what the top rated 11 dances were for the show, So you "Think You Can Dance!", (aka Fox 11, as it is known in Los Angeles), those one million people will have to copy the embed code and then play it back.

A one to one initial ratio for an embed coding to number of viewers? One embed code for every person who wants to see the video? Wow!

Once the first several thousand people repost the embed code somewhere on a blog, or within an email, others will then view the embedded video multiplying the viewing effect into the millions.

However, I REFUSE to post even one embed code on Alex Logic from the top eleven dances from "So you Think you Can Dance, top eleven list", specifically because I should be able to squeeze the fruit, before putting it on my blog.

In this instance, I would need to embed the video into this article just to see the video for the first time!
Why can't I just see the video unless BEFORE I post THE embed code?
The Fox, or is it Buddy Tv shenanigan is both crazy brilliant, but highly unethical as well. Unfortunately, there is nobody to call Fox, or Buddy TV out on this stunt. I'll do it here, but who will join me, and who will care?

Why is dealing with an imbed code so scandalous? Imagine having to "download" a song before being able to hear it for the first time. Somewhere in the internet stat counting universe, you would be pegged as having downloaded a song even if you were just curious what the song sounded like. This creates misleading, amplified, and highly inaccurate viewer statistics.

Just because ten thousand people embed the "So you think you Can Dance top eleven dances list" does not mean they all wanted to embed the code.
There IS a difference between an embedder and a viewer, and Fox TV and Buddy TV have now blurred that line.


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