Google’s video service celebrates a very special milestone today -- it’s ten years to the day since the first video was uploaded to the site. "Me at the Zoo", in all its 240p glory, has racked up close to 20 million views, which isn’t bad (especially as it wasn’t made public initially), although it pales into insignificance when compared with the likes of "Charlie Bit My Finger -- Again", with its 817 million views.

A lot has happened to YouTube in that time. It officially launched in May 2005 (so expect another birthday post next month) and was acquired by Google in 2006. It has spread across a wide range of platforms, batted off numerous legal challenges, and become a massive part of our lives.

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YouTube has stopped supporting devices that make use of the second version of its Data API. In practice the move, which was announced more than a year ago, is forcing users to look into alternative ways of watching YouTube videos, and likely also taking many by surprise.

For those who are not familiar with it, YouTube's Data API allows developers to implement YouTube functionality into their apps. The second version is mostly used on older devices, with the list including TVs, smartphones, tablets, Blu-Ray disc players and more. Here's what you should do, if you're affected.

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Google is on the verge of launching an ad-free option for YouTube users. An email sent out to 'YouTube Partners' (or content creators) reveals that the company has plans to unveil a paid-for version of the video service that enables viewers to avoid the irritation of ads.

For content creators, YouTube says the plans offer a new way to pull in the cash: "we'll generate a new source of revenue that will supplement your fast growing advertising revenue". While there is yet to be an official public announcement, the news comes just days after Google came in for criticism for showing "unfair and deceptive" ads in its YouTube Kids app.

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A number of consumer groups have filed a complaint with the FTC suggesting that Google is targeting children with "unfair and deceptive" ads in YouTube Kids for Android and iOS. A letter signed by Children Now, Consumer Watchdog, Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, and others says that ads are displayed in a way that would not be permitted on broadcast or cable television.

The letter makes three main complaints about the app. The first suggests that Google mixes programming and ads, while another says that the relationship between Google and the manufacturers of advertised products is not clear. The groups ask for the FTC to take action to stop the advertisements.

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Today Turkey blocked access to a number of websites including YouTube and Twitter. The ban came after the sites published images of a prosecutor being taken hostage at a court in Istanbul earlier in the week. Google has vowed to getting things back up and running, but it's not the same story for everyone.

While a block was also put in place on Facebook, the social network sidestepped the ban by agreeing to comply with a court ruling. This is not the first time Mark Zuckerberg's site has bowed to pressure from Turkey. At the beginning of the year, despite previous claims to stand up for free speech, Facebook bowed to pressure to block pages that insulted or offended the Prophet Mohammad. Now it looks as though history is repeating itself.

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With the launch of MTV in the 1980s, music and video became forever linked. In recent years, the name MTV, or Music TV, became quite the misnomer, as the channel ditched the music videos that made it popular, embracing original programming instead. The music video did not die, however, it just moved to the web instead. Yes, music videos on YouTube are wildly popular, seeing billions of views.

Today, Google invites you to the 2015 YouTube Music Awards. No, you aren't invited to the actual event, but you can watch it live online. Will you tune in?

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If you've splashed out on a fancy 360-degree camera, you can now use YouTube as a platform to show off your footage. It's something that Google promised back at the start of the year, and it has finally come to fruition. Rather than restricting viewers to watching the action that's happening in one direction, these immersive video allow you to look around in every direction as if you were there.

There are already a number of videos online to check out, and it’s a method of recording that lend itself perfectly to concerts, sporting events and the like. 360-degree videos are best enjoyed through virtual reality headset, but desktop and mobile users have not been forgotten.

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Today is International Women’s Day and in recognition of this Google is celebrating the role women have played, and continue to play, in the world of tech. It's a well-known fact that many technology companies are dominated by men -- as is the case in many industries -- but Google is keen to highlight its own Women Techmakers program.

Set up last year, the program is designed to not only encourage women to enter the male dominated technology sector, but also to promote the visibility of those who are already in place. This month saw the (very quiet) launch of the second Women Techmakers Global Event Series, but today Google wants to speak to the female technology workers of the future.

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March Madness is almost upon us. For those outside the US this may sound a bit weird -- almost like what people claim to happen during a full moon. In truth it's actually more mundane, though many folks may argue that point. It's the college basketball tournament that culminates in the crowning of a school as the new national champion. It's the time of year when even non-gamblers lay down money and fill out brackets.

Can you watch it online? Well, sort of. A special YouTube channel is being set up to bring you some of the action. The selections for participation will be made March 15th and the games get underway on the 17th. The grand finale actually supersedes the month, with a championship game played on April 6th.

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Martin Scorsese is a damn good director. He is behind such classic films as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Casino, and Goodfellas. As a New Yorker of Italian heritage, I pretty much have to like the guy. Not all of his work is gold though. Bringing Out the Dead is a personal favorite, though not a classic. I downright hated Gangs of New York and The Departed, but people seemed to enjoy those, so what do I know?

What I do know is that Apple has tapped the man for its latest iPad advertisement. Titled "Make a film with iPad". The one minute video is narrated by Scorsese, although he is never seen. This is probably for the best, as his signature unwieldy eyebrows might scare Apple's hip demographic.

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Few weeks go by without Google coming under fire for some privacy-related misdemeanor or other. In Italy, however, the search giant has just agreed to comply with measures put in place by the Data Protection Authority. Moreover, the company will be subjected to regular audits to make sure that everything is in order.

Google is required to make improvements not only to privacy notices for its various services, but also obtain consent from users to use their data in research and profiling. The right-to-be forgotten also rears its head again as the authority requires Google to investigate individuals' requests for search listing removals.

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Google is launching a kid-friendly version of YouTube. It's a project we first heard about a few months ago, and now YouTube Kids is about to become reality. But rather than launching as a child-friendly version of the website we've come to know and love, YouTube Kids will start its life as an Android app.

Parents will be pleased at Google's plans, where it will be possible to find carefully selected content that is suitable for a younger audience. Google will be curating videos, but there will be one question that enters the minds of mums and dads around the world: "what if my kid uses 'sex' as a search term".

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For the deaf and hard-of-hearing, subtitles are essential. Blu-rays, DVDs and TV shows usually feature subtitling as an option, and it's also something that crops up on streaming media such as YouTube videos. The Google-owned video site attempts to automatically add subtitles to videos, but the feature leaves a great deal to be desired.

You may have noticed this for yourself but if not, vlogger Rikki Poynter would like to bring it to your attention. Rikki, who is hard-of-hearing, complains that YouTube's subtitling is often "completely nonsensical". YouTube acknowledges that it has a long way to go.

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Too much content is uploaded to YouTube for Google to be able to effectively police users' videos. This is what the search giant said in response to calls for more to be done to counter terrorism-related content on the video network.

Online censorship versus the right to freedom of speech is a battle that has waged online for some time now. Some parts of the world are more prone to censorship than others, and it's an argument that bubbles up from time to time. The debate usually centers around the moral rights and wrongs of censoring content, but the issue of practicality occasionally rears its head as well.

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YouTube introduced the HTML5 player back in early-2010. I remember it quite well. At the time, it was made available through the Try something new! page, only as an experimental feature. I was excited to get rid of Flash, so I flicked the switch. I had high hopes. I thought I would be able to play all videos using the HTML5 player, but, as it turned out, that was years away from happening -- YouTube's HTML5 player was not yet ready for prime time, and Flash would get a few more years to reign supreme.

Fast forward to early-2015 and YouTube finally announces that HTML5 is the default player. Flash might as well be considered officially dead on YouTube. It's a huge step forward for those of us waiting for the day when sites we visit are no longer asking or forcing us to install Flash.

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