Twitter reportedly considering in-house video hosting

Twitter reportedly considering in-house video hosting
Users may soon be able to post videos through a Twitter-run service

Reports on Tuesday claimed that Twitter is flirting with the idea of launching an in-house video hosting service.

The social network is continuing to look for ways to maximize revenue through official portals, and sources say a video solution may now follow the photo-hosting service that arrived in June 2011.

In the past Twitter delegated media uploads to third-party solutions like yFrog and Twitpic, but has been steadily tightening its API conditions to marginalize external apps and services.

Although the company continues to rely on on third-party options like TwitVid for the sharing of direct video uploads from smartphones and tablets, those days may be coming to an end.

However, according to an AllThingsD report, the company would still expect "most people to post clips using links from sites like YouTube, Hulu and Vimeo."

Consistent experience

Those familiar with Twitter's considerations say that the move would help the social network in its push towards a more "consistent experience" for users.

The report claims that if the talks come to fruition, a new video player would be embedded directly within the media-rich posts that Twitter has been moving towards with its recent updates.

This would also help advertisers enjoy better "click through" rates for promoted tweets, allowing Twitter to make more money from each video. And that's the bottom line.

Discussions are still going on internally and no decision has been made for sure, according to the report.

Chris Smith

A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.