YouTube introduces video clip battles with Slam service

YouTube videos will be pitted against one another for user votes as part of its new Slam service.

The Google-owned streaming site, which ranks high-scoring clips on numerous leaderboards, described the venture as "a video discovery experiment".

"Each week a new crop of videos battles head-to-head in Comedy, Cute, Music, Bizarre and Dance Slams, where your votes determine who wins the Slam and gets featured on the leaderboard," said the firm on its blog.

"Earn points for predicting the crowd favourites, and see how you stack up against other players at the end of each week. Get your daily dose of the most talented, hilarious, adorable or weird videos on YouTube, and you could help uncover the next big thing."

Industry analysts claim that the move was implemented to ensure users remain on the website for longer, helping to stave off competition for rival services such as Vevo.

"YouTube is in a process of reinvention at the moment - Vevo is basically taking all of the music videos away from them," digital media analyst Mark Mulligan told BBC News.

"YouTube desperately need to create a new relevancy for themselves, and that's why with the recent site relaunch - making it look more like a rich, interactive TV-like experience - and features like Slam are all about trying to give YouTube a unique place in the online video landscape."

YouTube, which was given the biggest overhaul in its history this month, is the internet's leading video site by a significant margin. More than 88.3 billion clips were viewed on the service in October.

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