The mystery of YouTube's home page picks

Mark Glaser's latest in-depth piece just went up at PBS MediaShift looking at the mystery behind how YouTube chooses the videos that are highlighted on its home page. YouTube explains that the Featured Videos are not paid slots, though media partners do get their videos rotated into the Director Video slots on the home page. Still, some YouTube users are upset with the success CBS has had with its videos on the site, and question the way media partners work with the video-sharing site.

"We've noticed a rash of videos and commentary claiming that 'the only featured videos we're seeing [on the YouTube home page] are paid advertising videos.' This is totally untrue -- anything you see in the box marked 'Featured Videos' has been selected by a team of editors who are constantly thinking about what might appeal to you, the users, and trying to balance the types of videos and subject matter seen here. We don't always nail it, but the intentions are never commercially oriented, we can promise you that." -- Mia, YouTube editor