YouTube is UGC Community as much as video entertainment.
Knows the user, keeps a history, builds a profile. Will become part of the Google Universe.
Featured Content features top, subscribed, and favorite videos
Revenue: Google Ads
Text and banner.
Est. $5-$10 mio/month
Leverages Flash – Installed in 90% of browsers
It’s about community, too. Comments, conversations, recommendations, invitations…
YouTube‘s Revenue Model
- Advertising is the largest source of revenue
- Google AdWords: contextual ads
- Ad placement: Advertising.com, Tacoda
- Right to videos are reserved by YouTube in Terms of Service (TOS)
YouTube has distribution and partnering deals
- Universal Music Group: distribution deal
- CBS
- Sony BMG
- BSkyB (39 percent owned by News Corp.)
- Warner Music (Google)
- NBC Universal
- National Hockey League (NHL)
YouTube is Making Conversations Visual
Most people perceive YouTube as Television
- If content is King on YouTube then…
- Conversation is Queen.
- Users submit videos on equal footing with studios and television stations
- Community of members vote on, subscribe to, and respond to other peoples‘ video content
Viewers are not passive, like w/TV. Users:
- Actively make content to upload or record
- Actively select content in subscriptions
- Actively share content on blogs and MySpace
- Actively participate in conversation and community around the videos
More than just videos, it’s conversation and active, passionate, loyal community – and well-profiled users.
Users can respond to video content with video responses as well as text comments
YouTube is a Profile-Driven Social Network
Personal and professional YouTube profile. Users can include a bio, links, and other personal information.
Like MySpace, YouTube users may befriend each other and send messages
This user is a Director, allowing uploads of videos over 5 minutes in length.
Featured Content features the videos that the user has produced or uploaded. The idea is either to be known for what you produce, film, or upload.
The entire collection of that user’s uploads, along with descriptions, ratings, and the ability to view the movies inline.
YouTube is Being Used for Engagement Advertising
Each group has an entire message board associated with the group in which users may participate.
YouTube offers “groups??? that are often used by organizations, foundations, companies, producers, studios, and filmmakers to help promote their business, policy, politics, issue or movie online.
YouTube users are encouraged to join the group, participate in the conversation, and submit videos for inclusion on the Groups collaborative conversation.
Members of the group may upload their own videos content to the group.
“Freedom Writers??? Movie Agency developed the ‘Be Heard’ community on YouTube to link with their site
Widgetization all the Way to Along the Long Tail
YouTube Set the Standard for Widgets
- YouTube made „sharing“ video content as easy as humanly possibly.
YouTube made sharing widgets absolutely easier to „share“ than any other source.
Before YouTube‘s ground-breaking in-line code embed, Google Video, etc, couldn‘t catch fire online.
YouTube‘s success was good timing.
- The cost of bandwidth plummetted
- The popular acceptence of broadband skyrocketed.
- MySpace use has become ubiquitous
- Over 51 mio users of MySpace
- 30% of the Internet is on MySpace
- MySpace enables video embed
- Blogging has become commonplace
YouTube was the first video content provider to offer “inline??? embed code.
YouTube enables users to post content straight to their blogs.
YouTube provides a very handy tool for sharing video content via email
YouTube has succeeded in aggregating ‚The Long Tail‘
YouTube, an Instant hit in both popular and business culture
- November, 2005: Launched with $3.5MM from Sequoia Capital
- April, 2006: Sequoia injects another $8MM
- October 9th, 2006: Google purchases YouTube for $1.65BB
- Major mentions of YouTube by pop starts and actors
- Jessica Simpson mentions YouTube on Tonight Show
- Lonelygirl15, although a Revver property, came to popularity on Youtube
- YouTube has become the XEROX of Video Social Networds
Massive, Rapid Growth
- 100 million videos viewed daily
- 65,000 new videos uploaded every day
- 72 million visitors per month, primarily in the lucrative 12-17 year-old demo
Assumed to be profitable
- Running costs estimated at $1MM/month (actual numbers proprietary)
- Revenues from GoogleAds estimated by analysts at $5$10 mio/month .
