Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Google buys out You Tube!!!

Well finally all the rumour mongers have been satisfied after Google has signed the deal to buy out YouTube for ,hold your breath......a whopping $ 1.65 billion...Yeah you heard that right.Now you can go and knock your head out for not coming up with the idea of free video sharing on the net...


If you are beginning to wonder why would Google do with YouTube inspite of having Google videos of its own,well the answer's pretty simple. Internet is gonna be the next television and those who control the Internet control the future's complete media source....YouTube is going to be one of the best places for advertisements in the future (hmm..why in the future,it could very well become right now).According to StarNewsOnline....

"The success of the YouTube acquisition will probably lie in embedding video advertising into the clips that millions of people watch everyday from their computers. So far, YouTubes management has been reluctant to include advertising within clips, for fear of alienating users.

Yesterday, however, Mr. Hurley, one of YouTubes founders, appeared more open to experimenting, saying that he was even considering testing whats known as a pre-roll a 15-second ad before a clip something he had long derided as potentially ruining the user experience.

While more marketers have been eager to advertise against online video, some big consumer companies have been reluctant to fully embrace advertising against user-generated content because it is difficult to differentiate good content from offensive material. YouTube has created an assortment of tools for users and content creators to police its site.

YouTube said it had struck accords to license content from two of the four major music conglomerates the Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment and the CBS television network in exchange for a percentage of YouTubes advertising revenue.

YouTube is also expected to use new technology to identify copyrighted material that users have uploaded to the site without permission, and to share ad revenue with media companies that own the video or music content. (YouTube made a similar pact with the Warner Music Group last month, and had a previous advertising deal with NBC in June).

The deals reflect how media companies are rethinking the distribution of their entertainment content online.

The deal with Universal, the worlds biggest music corporation, drew particular attention because the company had said it was contemplating a lawsuit against YouTube over copyright issues.

Phil Leigh, the president of Inside Digital Media, said the new arrangements represented a strong endorsement that the major media companies are going to see YouTube as a legitimate business partner.

Mr. Leigh said that also suggested a rethinking of the approach the companies took to Napster. It shows that very important, erstwhile reluctant media companies have got religion, he said.

The YouTube alliances also came the same day that Google announced separate deals to license music videos from Sony BMG and Warner.

Under the terms of the deal, YouTube, which has about 60 employees, will retain much of its identity and will keep its name and its office in San Bruno, more than 25 miles from Googles headquarters in Mountain View. "

The move goes well with Google's philosophy to lead the change rather than following others.But will the user experience of viewing ads before they view the videos gonna shift the user base to some other free video sharing website.It remains to be seen.

Will this move catapult mainstream advertising from the tele to the Internet??? Or is Google killing a golden egg by swallowing it too early before its maturity??As usual Lord Time will have the answer.

I leave you with the YouTube founders own video on the site.

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