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With a lot of attention paid to the big number, $1.65
billion, there are some other numbers that illustrate Google's interest in
YouTube much better than the price tag. Google CEO Eric Schmidt probably isn't
having second thoughts about the acquisition of YouTube.
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Editor's Note: As the next day dawns after the Google and YouTube deal, everyone
has one question on their minds: can Google monetize YouTube? Will video ads
succeed, or will they fail to match the success of text ads in the online world?
Let us know at WebProWorld.
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I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, when he said, "I drank what?"
-- Chris Knight on self realization, in 1985's Real Genius
More Google/YouTube Coverage
› YouTube Founders Giddy...
› Google Buys YouTube
› GOOG Predicted To Rise On YouTube Buy
› YouTube Buyer Would Be A "Moron"
› Rumor Of The Week: Google To Buy YouTube
The company gained some significant traffic with video, and more importantly
picked up a massive playground for testing video advertising.
"In acquiring YouTube, Google has, in one fell swoop, increased their number of
video streams - and potential ad revenue from streaming - tenfold," said Gian
Fulgoni, comScore chairman. ComScore claimed it measures actual video streaming
activity, as opposed to market share of sites, and can better assess the online
video arena.
By the comScore numbers, Google will see a huge jump in the video streams people
in the US view from their sites. In July 2006, Google delivered some 60 million
streams to visitors. YouTube dished out 649 million in the same period. More
than 106.5 mil US visitors viewed video content for the month.
Plenty of promise for Google's video advertising aspirations, whatever they may
be, exists. The importance of online video has reached a point where online
content providers from big media companies to individual media netcasters have
embraced it in various forms.
The concept of "media company" may be the context in which Google should be
considered. Publishing 2.0 blogger Scott Karp wrote that the YouTube acquisition
"solidifies Google's position at the center of media."
"Google is now the archetypal media company - online video is just the next step
in their quest to monetize the world's content through advertising," said Karp.
"You supply the content - Google will take care of the rest."
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