Google Buys YouTube: Now What?
Monday, October 09, 2006So, Google did buy YouTube for $1.65B and here's the steaming-fresh press release. I guess we will see more of the Google's contextual video ads on the site now, but it would be fun to watch how Google tries to solve this particular usability problem.
It will also be interesting to see whether this purchase leads to new attempts by Google to get into the TV ad business. On the one hand, some of (now) its content pulls higher ratings than cable or networks. On the other hand, if Google figures out a way to ease the user burden of finding quality material, the package similar videos through a learning matching algorithm into seamless channel-like streams, and then make these new channels available on regular TV screens through DVRs or set-top boxes, then we have a TV player mightier than anyone else on the market.
In other words, all Google needs to do is to take the wealth of online video content and put it in the 10-foot environment -- the living room -- while making sure the viewer feels no difference between wathing Google TV and regular programming, and then suddenly the range of available channels jumps from 200 to tens of thousands, and Google controls almost all of it.
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