July 28, 2006 at 09:10YouTube wants to maintain independence
Despite the fact that experts estimate YouTube is already at $ 1 billion, this young startup does not show any signs of a possible sale. Like the founders of Skype at one time, YouTube executives also say that their business is not for sale.
Chad Hurley, co-founder and director of YouTube at the age of 29, has already become a celebrity and potential billionaire. He spoke at the AlwaysOn conference.and discussed the most relevant topics that interest the public regarding his company. As you know, recently the YouTube phenomenon has attracted widespread attention, and therefore there are a variety of speculations. There are many questions. For example, how YouTube is going to recoup huge operating expenses, because every day its servers ship 100 million video files to the people for free.
Two months ago, even Bill Gates commented on the situation around YouTube. He said it was a great service. Gates himself enjoys using it; he recently found classic Harlem Globetrotter recordings of entertaining basketball shows there.. But he said that YouTube still needs to learn how to make money and solve copyright problems. In response, Chad Hurley caustically remarked that Bill Gates “is commenting on our business, and at this time Microsoft is trying to create a clone of our service.” It is not very pretty. In general, YouTube’s goal is “to develop the next generation platform for delivering digital content worldwide.”
Chad Hurley was then asked if he considers Google Video to be a competitor. The director explained that the YouTube service controls 60% of all video streams on the American Internet. They have a better product that continues to evolve and improve. YouTube wants to remain independent and uses venture capital investments for this.
As for problems with copyright, YouTube seeks to translate its activities into legal channels. They recently signed an agreement with NBC (although the story began with NBC's demands to remove pirated content), and now they are negotiating with other television networks and studios. For them, YouTube positions itself as a powerful advertising platform, not trying to replace television or movie theaters. They specialize in broadcasting short videos, rather than transferring files with feature films and television shows.
Of course, now the company is in a huge minus. The business brings only losses, but the young company is gradually creating its own advertising platform and gaining its own sales department. Business model: profit from advertising with banners, sponsorship and contests while maintaining a free service. Standard advertising videos are not yet planned to be embedded in YouTube content, although some experts say that this is inevitable.
Chad Hurley, co-founder and director of YouTube at the age of 29, has already become a celebrity and potential billionaire. He spoke at the AlwaysOn conference.and discussed the most relevant topics that interest the public regarding his company. As you know, recently the YouTube phenomenon has attracted widespread attention, and therefore there are a variety of speculations. There are many questions. For example, how YouTube is going to recoup huge operating expenses, because every day its servers ship 100 million video files to the people for free.
Two months ago, even Bill Gates commented on the situation around YouTube. He said it was a great service. Gates himself enjoys using it; he recently found classic Harlem Globetrotter recordings of entertaining basketball shows there.. But he said that YouTube still needs to learn how to make money and solve copyright problems. In response, Chad Hurley caustically remarked that Bill Gates “is commenting on our business, and at this time Microsoft is trying to create a clone of our service.” It is not very pretty. In general, YouTube’s goal is “to develop the next generation platform for delivering digital content worldwide.”
Chad Hurley was then asked if he considers Google Video to be a competitor. The director explained that the YouTube service controls 60% of all video streams on the American Internet. They have a better product that continues to evolve and improve. YouTube wants to remain independent and uses venture capital investments for this.
As for problems with copyright, YouTube seeks to translate its activities into legal channels. They recently signed an agreement with NBC (although the story began with NBC's demands to remove pirated content), and now they are negotiating with other television networks and studios. For them, YouTube positions itself as a powerful advertising platform, not trying to replace television or movie theaters. They specialize in broadcasting short videos, rather than transferring files with feature films and television shows.
Of course, now the company is in a huge minus. The business brings only losses, but the young company is gradually creating its own advertising platform and gaining its own sales department. Business model: profit from advertising with banners, sponsorship and contests while maintaining a free service. Standard advertising videos are not yet planned to be embedded in YouTube content, although some experts say that this is inevitable.