'YouTube Oscars' to judge best viral videos of the year

13 April 2012
Video

Users of the site will be able to vote for their favourite clips from 2006 from nominees picked by YouTube.

Scroll down for a selection of the nominated films

The awards will be handed out in seven categories: most creative, most inspirational, best series, best comedy, musician of the year, best commentary and 'most adorable video ever'.

Success on the site has previously been defined largely by rankings of the most-viewed or most-discussed videos.

"We wanted to call out some of the most popular videos and let the users choose which ones deserve some additional recognition," said Jamie Byrne, head of product marketing at YouTube.

Google-owned, California-based YouTube was founded in February 2005 and now has around 130 million visitors a month.

They can upload clips on to the site from their mobile phones, camcorders and other sources for all to see.

Last week, media conglomerate Viacom sued YouTube for £500 million, claiming the site infringes on copyrights on a 'huge scale'.

Several other media companies have reached agreements to supply YouTube with clips.

The nominees, picked by YouTube, are compiled in a gallery at www.youtube.com/YTAwards. YouTube community members can vote on their favorites until Friday.

The winners, as chosen by the community, will be announced March 25. Each will be prominently featured on YouTube and receive a trophy, the design of which will be revealed later.

Among the nominees are noted 'vloggers' Paul Robinett ('Renetto') and Peter Oakley ('Geriatric1927'). The comedy of Barats and Bereta, and Smosh, is also nominated, as are series such as Lonelygirl15's and 'Ask a Ninja'.

Example of nominated Paul Robinett 'Renetto' on YouTube

The power pop band OK Go is perhaps the most professional of the nominees; it's nominated for the famous treadmill-choreographed music video, "Here It Goes Again."

"We want to see how the community responds to it, but we can see this being something that grows as we continue to grow and becomes a bigger and more exciting event in the future," Byrne said. An in-person ceremony is possible in the future.

Example of nominated Peter Oakley 'Geriatric1927' on YouTube

Google-owned, San Bruno, California-based YouTube was founded in February 2005. Last week, media conglomerate Viacom sued YouTube for $1 billion, claiming the site infringes on copyrights on a "huge scale." Several other media companies have reached agreements to supply YouTube with clips.

Nominated Smosh play dolls on Youtube

According to comScore Media Metrix, YouTube attracted 133.5 million visitors worldwide in January.

Lonelygirl15 shares her lazy eye story

'Ask a Ninja' answers your questions

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