YouTube goes Google
Dominating business news today is Google’s US $1.65 billion purchase of YouTube.com. The deal marks Google’s priciest acquisition in its eight-year history, but it’s certainly not the first time a tiny upstart was showered with cash and swallowed by the big guns. All kinds of digital hotspots, including MySpace, Craigslist, Skype, AskJeeves and About.com have recently been snapped up – in part or in whole – by larger corporations.
YouTube was co-founded nearly two years ago by 20-somethings Steve Chen and Chad Hurley. The site had a premise so simple it’s laughable: Create a hub for people with increasingly higher-speed Internet connections and deeper bandwidth to post and watch video clips. There was (and is) controversy, too. For every personally guided zoo tour, lip synch performance and practical joke caught on digital camera, there are at least as many, if not more, copyrighted clips from TV, film and video. For the connected generation, the site provides a way to sidestep mainstream media outlets altogether.
So what are implications of this freshly-inked deal? First, the basics. Everyone wants to go where the cool kids are hanging out. That means social media, photo-and-video-sharing, audio sharing, group gathering spots, gaming networks, and else anywhere that the young, connected and creative are spending their time together.
Secondly, there’s a lot of talk about a new Internet bubble. Will it burst? Will we see another era of dot-com growth and ultimately, collapse? From our perspective here at Reach Group, it all comes down to the connected brand. Read more about it here. But the short version is this: to compete in today’s market, you need a well-mixed cocktail of commerce, community, and content. It doesn’t matter that YouTube isn’t turning a proft – they’ve got a thriving, influential community. For companies such as Google, who have already mastered content and commerce, that’s the most elusive piece of the corporate puzzle.
The connected generation has been quietly wielding its underground influence on the business world for several years now. With today’s merger, their voices just got a little louder – and a whole lot more expensive.
This post was written by Cheri Hanson
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3 Responses to “YouTube goes Google”
Hope google makes a big move and already launched google videos myspace, youtube and google anyone but they only to capture the market only.
we also observing in search engine market every step by google takes to the next generation level. anyhow just need to wait until what happens after google starts to make enhancements for new google-youtube.
thanks
Ms.Thulasi SVNL.
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Wonder if Google does market research to learn what is hot by surveying youth, or if they get everything through search logs? If they did they were obviously right on target, as this study shows:
http://webanalyticsassociation.org/en/rel/?60
Guess it pays to watch for trends and look for a deal
#40 | Webmarketerq (11/23/06)