A Comprehensive Guide To Video Streaming And Methods To Secure It

Given the current era, video content has become the primary source of information and entertainment. However, content creators should always take appropriate steps to protect their video content against unauthorized access.

Getting content access unethically affects your monetization ability and decreases overall revenue. So while as a creator, you devote time to creating the best content possible, implement some effective methods to guard it too.

Let’s continue with this article and learn all the necessary things about streaming and how you can protect your content on video streaming sites.

What Is Video Streaming Content? How Does It Work?

In simple words, video streaming makes videos available over the Internet. The online platforms or websites that people use to watch videos online avail these videos to stream.

The content creators create and upload these videos on an online platform or website. 

The viewers then get to watch these videos using the Internet. Depending on the creators, they can charge the viewers to watch these videos or let them watch free of cost.

Creators can make videos and upload them or live stream and let the viewers watch them in real time.

Talking about the example of video streaming……..

Everyone nowadays streams videos to get entertained or gain knowledge about a particular subject. The simplest examples are streaming videos on Netflix, HULU, YouTube, and Disney Plus.

These platforms provide streaming services and let the viewers watch the video content. Some platforms can charge a subscription fee, and some need the viewers to watch the ads in between to watch videos for free.

How does video streaming work?

The video streaming websites need the creator to sign up and create their account. The creator then uploads their logo, banner image, and an introduction video that gives the visitors an idea about their channel.

Creators then start uploading their videos on a regular interval, choose a monetization option, and market their channel.

They get the desired audience and traffic on their monetized video streams by marketing the channel. The audience then pays for the streamed content or watches the advertisements, which supports the creators to earn money from their creations.

Benefits Of Video Streaming

With streaming, people don’t have to wait for their favorite movies to arrive in theaters. They can also watch several other kinds of web series, shows, sports matches, and other videos in various niches.

Many more benefits come with video streaming or video on demand services. Let’s discuss a few of them here-

1) Convenience

Video streaming platforms let the viewers search with any queries they  want. Viewers can put the keywords in the search panel and get the results instantly.

2) Sharing

Streaming allows the viewers to watch the videos anytime, anywhere, with just an active internet connection. They can also download their favorite videos to watch offline.

3) Navigation

Streaming platforms provide clear navigation so viewers can find their favorite movies in a jiffy. Viewers can explore the navigation, select their favorite niche, and start making the selection.

4) Affordable Promotions

Video streaming services also provide a launching space to creators that are more cost-effective than other mediums for promoting their creations.

5) Compatibility

Viewers can watch all the content through various devices and operating systems.

6) Viewership Metrics

Streaming platforms provide creators with metrics important to understand their audience and improve their marketing strategy. As a creator, you can analyze your audience’s behavior and gain important insights.

7) Interactivity

These platforms also let users communicate with each other, post comments, and build a sense of community.

Video Streaming Vs. Downloading

Content streaming and downloading both allow viewers to stream their favorite content whenever they want. However, they both are different from each other even when they both need the Internet.

In video streaming, a person can stream the video on a streaming website using the Internet. However, downloading requires a person to download the video content online. This video content then gets stored in the storage of that person’s phone, which they can access anytime.

Let’s uncover the advantages of both streaming and downloading.

Advantages Of Video Streaming Services

• Piracy Protection 

As compared to downloads, streamed videos provide more protection against piracy. Once downloaded, a video can end up anywhere and be altered as well. However, since streaming can only be accessed on the platform, it doesn’t let the viewer misuse it.

It is true that even protected video streaming is not invincible, and it can be misused; it still is more secure than downloads.

• Audience Growth

Streaming also helps you grow your audience since it allows multiple people to watch your content simultaneously. Regardless of the streaming platform you use, these platforms can handle a large amount of traffic where the content can directly be accessed without downloading.

• Instant Playback

This is a technological world where everyone wants things instantly, and the same applies to audiences requesting to stream content. Unlike downloading, streaming provides instant content without any wait time. 

This is one of the reasons why people prefer streaming over downloading. This also keeps the user from having to give storage space on their device.

• Live Streaming

Online platforms also provide live streaming where the audience can interact with the creators in real time. This is not possible with downloading content where the audience can’t connect with creators while it is happening.

Advantages Of Downloading

Downloading the content stores it in your own device. Once the content is downloaded, it takes no additional data which prevents it from buffering.

Downloading a content doesn’t get affected by minor ups and downs in the speed. It only gets affected when your Internet connection is significantly slow. 

Once the content is downloaded, the video quality remains the same. The same is not true with streaming where the video quality depends on the speed of the internet.

Top Methods On How To Protect Video Content

While creating the content, it is equally important to protect it. There are various methods to protect video content; however, as a creator, you should know which security method to apply and when.

Below we will mention some effective security methods; read along and determine the best ones for your content.

1. AES Encryption

AES, or Advanced Encryption Standard, encodes the content information and makes a platform secure online video hosting source.

To access the content, AES requires the users to have a specific key, such as signing in to view the video, using the authorized video, or other such elements.

AES makes it difficult for hackers to access the content, providing more security to the creators. A creator can access the AES encryption by simply signing up on a streaming platform that provides this encryption.

2. HTTPS Delivery

HTTPS is the protection from the middleman trying to steal the data using compromised network scenarios such as open networks at coffee shops, airports, schools, malls, and other places.

Using a website with HTTPS delivery provides the creators with the safety of HLS encryption, preventing such middleman attacks.

3. SSL/TLS Encrypted Paywall

This kind of protection is a must for all who go through financial transactions. This is also the same encryption banks use to protect their customers’ payment details. Every creator should choose a platform with SSL/TLS encryption.

4. Password-Protected Video

Next is password protection which, as its name implies, makes the content password-protected. Only those who know the password can open the video content and stream.

For this, creators can set the password on their videos and share the key only with the viewers they want. This kind of protection is useful for internal discussion of a company rather than when you want to increase the traffic on your videos.

5. Geographic Restrictions

Secure your video streaming with geographic restrictions that lets you set a specific region to target your audience. Creators can target the locations of their choice and get the traffic or views only from those regions.

To access such a feature, the video on demand platform should provide IP restrictions; you should verify the same before finalizing the platform.

This feature is useful because, in some countries, there is a high piracy rate, and by using IP features, you can block such countries.

6. Embed Restrictions

Such restriction works on embedded videos, and this can be used as an additional security layer. In case your video is embedded on an unauthorized website, this feature blocks the video from getting streamed.

7. CDN Protection

Using a website with a CDN feature multiplies the overall security of your channel. CDN, or content delivery network, stores the files and transmits them as requested. Having video streaming services with strong CDN ensures faster and global delivery with minimum buffering.

CDN is also useful to protect your video against DDoS attacks which flood your website with fake traffic to crash it.

Start Video Streaming With GUDSHO

Finding an ideal streaming platform is a tedious task. To resolve the same, you can choose GUDSHO and get access to all the above-mentioned security features.

Here are even more reasons why you should choose GUDSHO:

(1) Secure Video Hosting

GUDSHO, the online video streaming platform provides you with secure video hosting where you can set limitations on the reach of your videos. It uses AES encryption, DRM, and other security standards to protect your content from piracy.

(2) Geo Restriction

Creators can set geo-restrictions on their videos and get their content streamed only by authorized regions or countries.

(3) Abundance Of Storage

There is no need to worry about the storage quantity; GUDSHO is abundant in storage while keeping the pricing plans pocket-friendly.

(4) Auto-Generated Promos

While uploading a video, creators don’t need to upload promos separately. GUDSHO provides the feature to automatically generate promos from the videos and present them to the viewers.

(5) Customizable Subscriptions

This on demand video streaming platform also allows viewers to customize the subscriptions as per their budget and convenience. This inspires the audience to subscribe to your channel, creating more earning opportunities.

(6) Videos Gifting

By using GUDSHO, your audience gets the power to share the videos as a gift with their loved ones. Your viewers will pay for the people to whom they want to give the video and let them enjoy it.

Conclusion

Top video on demand services allow your business to build an online presence and cover a larger audience. However, to get the most out of your effort, it’s important to choose a streaming platform wisely.

There are many such platforms with various features and pricing plans. One should always go with the one that provides the necessary features while being within your budget. 

Someone who wants more than usual features with cost-effective pricing plans may opt for GUDSHO and explore the platform. Get top-notch security, robust CDN, geo-restrictions, and other innovative features when you choose GUDSHO.