Flash Hosting
Flash videos have become an integral part of many of the most successful websites in the world. People who visit websites want to be able to do more than just read what you write, but rather listen and watch the content.
With the increase in videos online, many webmasters still haven’t been able to decide whether or not to host their flash content on their own server, or with a 3rd party flash hosting service.
There are several potential drawbacks to hosting a flash video on your own site. One of the biggest is that videos are big and can quickly eat up your resources.
For this reason, many people are looking for outside flash hosting websites and Youtube and similar free sites are often considered.
When considering a free flash hosting service, there are some drawbacks to keep in mind.
Lower quality video conversion
With free 3rd party flash hosting websites, you lose a large amount of control over how your video is displayed.
This means that they convert your video to another format which will reduce the quality of the video. This is especially important if your video has small details that are important for that viewer to see.
Related Content
While this does not directly affect you, it can slowly cause you to lose potential customers/viewers.
Free 3rd party flash sites will often feature related content near your video. Videos from your competitors could get the attention of your viewers and drag them away.
However, at the same time, it could also create more customers as well. So this is a potential disadvantage but could also be an advantage.
Aspect Ratio
Since you have no control over the conversion process, there is a chance that the aspect ratio will be thrown off.
While 3rd party sites try to keep your video looking good, if your video ends up looking squished or some of the video gets cut off, then there is not much that you will be able to do in order to remedy the situation.
3rd party flash hosting services are gaining in popularity as video becomes more a focused presence online. While there are definite advantages to using a 3rd party flash hosting service, there are some drawbacks that need to be kept in mind as well.
