How YouTube.com will Make Money
YouTube.com is one of the most popular, and my favorite, video site on the web. But there is a lot of buzz as to how it is going to make profits. Everything else a website needs, users and participation of users, YouTube has plenty of. So the question becomes… how are they going to leverage those users? (out side of the Google AdSense ads, and promotions from various TV/Movie Studios)
Many that got burned in the internet bubble will fail to see the potential because it is sooo unconventional. But do not get caught up in the negativity.
YouTube is nothing more than a facilitator of content, and commercials are nothing more than content.
The public initially saw this commercial content w/the very hyped up Paris Hilton adoption of her own YouTube page. YouTube most likely charges every time someone clicks on one of the videos generated by ParisHilton screen name.
The one thing that struck me as odd a few days ago was that a video titled as “Starbuck’s Ad” was one of the top viewed videos. The content was okay, but that is when it hit me. Commercial content creators are nothing more than normal users. However, the creators of those commercials have to make it interesting enough to get the views.
By intergrating directing into the platform, normal users will not know what is what. For instance, I don’t care if something is a commercial, if it has a lot of views I will want to see what others deem so interesting, and view it. So if a Starbucks Ad gets 25,000 view, that could potentially bring in $$ for YouTube. This is where Ad executives can make a shit load of money, and take advantage. YouTube is going to force Commercial Content Creators to have very interesting commercials, not the general bullshit we see on TV. So for all you creative thinkers out there… be prepared.
On the down side, is also allows companies to simply create commercials themselves. For instance I noticed a P.Diddy video that was pushing ProActive. Why would P. Diddy push ProActive on YouTube… because ProActive paid him to do it! The real question in this case is… Is YouTube getting a piece of the action? Will they regulate and monitor things like this? If so, then they can protect their user base by not getting flooded w/company created commercials not paying YouTube.
Do I think this model can make a shit load of money… I don’t know. That depend on how much YouTube charges per view, and how much they protect themselves. (But i’m sure companies will be more than happy to participate.)
