How correctly to embed youtube video with the new active content restrictions?

[grooverq]

Hi sellers!

Do you know how correctly to embed youtube video into listing? I received email today from eBay that they will remove all active content from my listings soon and the email pointed all listings where I have embedded youtube videos. I do not have addiotional active content except videos. Usually I embed it with html code, but it seems like ebay will not really support that way soon. However, they say in new rules that video embedding will be supported. So how should I do it correctly? 

[shipscript]

@rakdistribution

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@rakdistribution wrote:

shipscript, I read a post of your's from a year ago reitterating exactly what you are saying now and eBay has failed to do as you continue to say. I have been called personally by eBay regarding my Active Content and they have not communicated to me what you are saying in regards to YouTube videos. From what I understand, they still communicate that they are planning to not allow YouTube videos to be Embedded like they have in the past. The employees at eBay that I have spoken to are not aware of an actionable plan to work towards allowing YouTube videos in the near future, unless they plan on exempting them from their policy.

Do you have a source that we can be pointed to that states that eBay will continue to allow YouTube videos until they come up with a solution?

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I don't think eBay's ultimate solution will be to embed YouTube in the item description because I don't think even eBay can get around that Active Content limitation.  (eBay did not invent the Active Content rules. That is an industry standard security measure that has been built into all modern browsers that eBay is simply turning on.  The industry has decided what constitutes Active Content.)

My speculation is that if eBay can have its own solution, it will probably be outside the description, perhaps in the photo area or the item specifics.

In the meantime, eBay has found a way to allow external links, and that is their interim solution. In allowing external links, they have whitelisted YouTube video links. Thus, various methods of linking to YouTube will be allowed.

[shipscript]

@psycle57

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@psycle57 wrote:

Been around this loop for a while with eBay. The promised early 2017 solution never arrived. The solution offered above is not a video embed, but a clickable picture that opens a new window. Basically tech from 10 years ago. Expect lowered sales as customers drift off into cat videos. Have had numerous calls with uninformed reps about this, with promises to look into it and get back to me. Quit lying. A rep I spoke with on the phone today said all you need to do is paste the link into your listing and add the number 5 to the end.  When I asked where that was written on the eBay site as a solution, she could not tell me. Plus - that does not work either! The excuse for this "no active content" is to make it mobile friendly. What mobile friendly site other than eBay does NOT have active content? This will not be a Bonanza for eBay.

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Banning Active Content, in my experience, does not make a site mobile friendly. That is some misguided doublespeak. The Active Content limitation is an industry-wide invention designed to secure sites that allow user-embedded content.  eBay has historically allowed much broader user-embedded content than any other ecommerce site, so it was about time they put the brakes on some of the abuses.  However, in choosing to implement the industry standard "Active Content" sandbox rules, they were not so free in choosing what got blocked.  They certainly did not want to block videos, and have said so from the beginning.  Thus they are working toward their own solution.

I did have to laugh about the number "5". That is truly off the wall. Perhaps it is a nonsensical reference to HTML"5".

The "link" solution is interim. We have been told that eBay's solution would not be ready by the Active Content deadline, so the link solution was made available as a workaround.

The "link video" code offered at the YouTube Converter site does not show cat videos.  Instead, the video opens all by its lonesome self in an empty page and is coded to prevent "related videos" from appearing. 

There is another solution out there if you would like the video to open "in-page". There is a service that queries YouTube via API to retrieve the MP4 version and then they transload the video through their own server so that it can be displayed using HTML5 codes.  It would be nice if YouTube directly supported HTML5 delivery, but they do not -- presumably because there is limited support for HTML5 codecs and YouTube wants to deliver a video that works. The only shortcoming for the transloaded video (aside from limited support) is that it is transmitted through a third-party server.

[psycle57]

Doublespeak all comes from eBay statements in writing or on the phone. HTML 5 is funny, because it was given as one of the reasons for killing active content. The conversion site codec takes you off page, that is the point. Cat videos is a metaphor. When the blocking of active content was first announced, Ebay promised a solution to EMBEDDING videos. Promised it for EARLY 2017. Just someome capital and coders: how hard can that be? Or are they planning to charge for it? "The Active Content limitation is an industry-wide invention designed to secure sites that allow user-embedded content." Sounds a bit Orwellian, no? The solution to secure user embedded content is to simply deny it. Great.

[idcard.solutions]

You cannot 'embed' Youtube videos.  All solutions for Youtube will open a separate tab / browser or the app.

You CAN embed HTML5 videos, but that means you have to host your video as direct stream type file somewhere else (in other words a static URL address must be available for the mp4 video file).

So, if your traffic isn't too high you might get away with dropbox hosting in the public folder.

NOTE:  HTML5 video player embedded allows the viewer to download the video as well as watch it.

The HTML5 Code is simple, you can change the video frame size (be sure to make a video that is approximately that resolution to keep streaming efficient):

HTML5 CODE:
<video width="480" height="320" preload="" controls="" style="font-size: 14pt;">
<source src="VIDEO FILE URL HERE" type="video/mp4">
</video>

This particular code preloads the video in the background, and provides controls for the viewer to start the stream.  You can also do code to automatically Play the video on page load; you can remove the controls as well.

However, the video file is subject to download (either by right click) or a download link in the controls panel if you enable controls.

Here is additional information with code examples:

https://www.w3schools.com/html/html5_video.asp

[hudsolutions2011]

Thank you very much. It works great with YouTube videos. It opens in a new window, but it works better than not having videos at all.

[boots_n_slicks_88]

Thank you!

[bodyscanned]

Thank you SO much, you purely rock! (Affectionately, it's "hassle," no biggie). Hope you make piles of money, you've made my day so much nicer, along w/ everyone who sees your post.

[bodyscanned]

Thank you for taking time and effort to share your knowledge.  May your generosity be sweetly rewarded

[trendzinmotion]

Hello, thanks for the help. I wondered if you know how to also make it work on mobil.

It does show up on the mobile devices but when played I get a get an Error message about enabeling javascript, even though it is enabled on my mobil browser.

[srmulville]

Thanks for the help, much better than anyting eBay have provided.

[*global-seller*]

This only work on desktop.

On eBay app in mobile and tablet devices not open.

Check it.

I still not find a solution

Thanks

[*global-seller*]

Thin work not on desktop.

If you try to watch on eBay app  at mobile and desktop devices you can't.

Thanks

[*global-seller*]

Also work on eBay app in mobile devices?

[cozyfort]

So the videos are only able to play on desktop versions for now? I was getting the same error message as above but now it doesn't even attempt to open the video. 

[darmar]

Thank you, worked like a charm