Google buys YouTube.com

[COKE CAN]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127421-pg,1-RSS,RSS/article.html

Google is going to take over the web. I won't be suprised when google creates a remote OS that includes their own office sweet, etc.

[Morgandy]

I think it's funny how the big companies have taken notice of "social networking" sites such as YouTube and MySpace -- and are in the hunt to buy them up for probably more money than they will ever be worth -- especially when you consider that basically none of those gimmick sites make any money and don't even seem to have a business model. But this is right down Google's alley because they appear to be making lots of things that at first glance don't appear to have any way of making money. They're just spending their investors' dollars. Looks more like "dot bomb" again. :lol:

[cdifoto]

I think it's funny how the big companies have taken notice of "social networking" sites such as YouTube and MySpace -- and are in the hunt to buy them up for probably more money than they will ever be worth -- especially when you consider that basically none of those gimmick sites make any money and don't even seem to have a business model. But this is right down Google's alley because they appear to be making lots of things that at first glance don't appear to have any way of making money. They're just spending their investors' dollars. Looks more like "dot bomb" again. :lol:

They're a major source of advertising dollars. That's how they make money. People flock to myspace.com, so advertisers pay big bucks for those front page ads and banners you see on every page...even the error invalid login/try again page.

[COKE CAN]

I think it's funny how the big companies have taken notice of "social networking" sites such as YouTube and MySpace -- and are in the hunt to buy them up for probably more money than they will ever be worth -- especially when you consider that basically none of those gimmick sites make any money and don't even seem to have a business model. But this is right down Google's alley because they appear to be making lots of things that at first glance don't appear to have any way of making money. They're just spending their investors' dollars. Looks more like "dot bomb" again. :lol:

Apparently you do not read Fortune.

[COKE CAN]

They're a major source of advertising dollars. That's how they make money. People flock to myspace.com, so advertisers pay big bucks for those front page ads and banners you see on every page...even the error invalid login/try again page.

That's the ticket right there.

[blonde]

at this point, my space and youtube are probably more profitable than many of the big companies that have been around for a long time. as time goes by, these so called "social networks" will become the main advertisment venues and will probably be more effective than TV advertisment as long as your target market is the same as the market of youtube and my space. if you take movies like Snakes On a plane and even some car commercials that are only available on youtube, you will see that these "small" web sites already have the power to make or break a new product. buying youtube is probabloy the smartest decision google has done so far and i am willling to bet that you will see this investment paying off real soon. i agree that some "social network" sites are not worth the money like facebook which will probably vanish within a year or so but if you have a solid site that got the momentum and the user base, even the redicoules amount that google offered youtube is worth it. there is no escaping from the fact that the internet is the future of everything and big companies like google are trying to capture as much market share as they can. i am also willing to bet that in the next 5 years, we will see google rise to levels similar to Microsoft due to their ever growing market share and their ability to capitilize on growing trends. don't forget that the people that areu using youtube and my space are the future and to them, the internet is the natural choice for interactions.

[JaGWiRE]

I don't blame them. For a while I was thinking YOUTUBE TOOK OVER the entire video hosting world on the web. And it's funny, most videos are in crap quality.

[RandyMN]

I'm just wondering what plans they have for these purchased sights. Generally a purchase means a change, maybe just in management. Possibly these sights grew too big for those who manage them to continue.

[KevC]

I thought google was already working on an OS.... ubuntu derivative..

[Morgandy]

They're a major source of advertising dollars. That's how they make money.

Apparently your definition of "make money" isn't the same as mine, or marketwatch.com's, who said this about YouTube:

"YouTube is a great asset with 34 million unique visitors and 100 million daily video downloads. But it's on shaky ground if it tries to go it alone. It may be popular, but it doesn't make any money. And it's burning through millions of dollars supporting our habit of on-demand copyrighted video clips."

The above quote is from an analysis article (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B5321F557%2DE82D%2D4D70%2D826B%2 DD5B27C02E5B7%7D&siteid=) on the buyout.

I don't know where some people get the idea that web sites that feature ads are making money (where "making money" means that you are profitable from quarter to quarter). What about operating expenses? Server co-location costs and Internet bandwidth aren't free -- in fact it's expensive as hell. And then there are the costs of running your company.

I work in the computer & Internet industry so I'm not just tossing words about. And I'm not saying that social networking sites are not going to eventually make money -- some will -- but it's a great risk to buy one now and hope it's going to be profitable within a reasonable amount of time.

[blonde]

Apparently your definition of "make money" isn't the same as mine, or marketwatch.com's, who said this about YouTube:

"YouTube is a great asset with 34 million unique visitors and 100 million daily video downloads. But it's on shaky ground if it tries to go it alone. It may be popular, but it doesn't make any money. And it's burning through millions of dollars supporting our habit of on-demand copyrighted video clips."

The above quote is from an analysis article (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B5321F557%2DE82D%2D4D70%2D826B%2 DD5B27C02E5B7%7D&siteid=) on the buyout.

I don't know where some people get the idea that web sites that feature ads are making money (where "making money" means that you are profitable from quarter to quarter). What about operating expenses? Server co-location costs and Internet bandwidth aren't free -- in fact it's expensive as hell. And then there are the costs of running your company.

I work in the computer & Internet industry so I'm not just tossing words about. And I'm not saying that social networking sites are not going to eventually make money -- some will -- but it's a great risk to buy one now and hope it's going to be profitable within a reasonable amount of time.

altough i agree with your analysis of youtube, you have to keep in mind that Google is a powerhouse and they have many ways in which they can take advantage of youtube popularity. i also agree that if youtube kept on going at it alone, it would have ended up where Napster did...

[lakiluno]

I believe some of them do and some don't

Youtube has a huge bandwidth bill, and not any real business model.

However, there have been suggestions they may put context-related video ads in the youtube videos at the beginning or end.

Google currently runs google videos, and google is one of the most profitable web-based companies around.