Google sill in love with Youtube

Source:http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/07/31/google-still-loves....By Jano
The video-sharing site loses money and has failed to attract quality studio programming. So why does Google continue to pump money into it?YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley (left) and product manager Salar Kamangar YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley (left) and product manager Salar Kamangar You would think Google’s executive triumvirate — CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page — would be worried about YouTube. Almost three years after they forked over $1.65 billion in stock to acquire the video-sharing site, YouTube last year delivered only an estimated $240 million in revenue and is deeply in the red.YouTube is the largest video platform in the world. Users upload 20 hours of video to it each minute, at tremendous cost to Google (GOOG). The company doesn’t break out YouTube’s expenses, but analysts believe it spends tens of millions of dollars each month just on network capacity to host all those videos.And, oh, what videos! Four years after its inception YouTube remains a repository for “long tail” content that appeals to niche audiences: clips of cats on skateboards, babies laughing, and kids lip-synching. (There are occasional mass-audience moments, like the clip of Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent, viewed 71 million times.) Gallery: See YouTube’s greatest hits But despite Google’s repeated efforts, YouTube has failed to create an environment for professional video content, where many advertisers are clamoring to put their money right now.Instead, Google’s executives have watched rival Hulu, a joint venture of GE’s NBC, News Corp.’s Fox, and now Disney’s ABC, catapult to success among consumers and advertisers alike. With its sharp media player and an interface that feels comfortingly like traditional television, Hulu has become the second-most-watched video site (after YouTube) since it launched in March 2008 and began hosting episodes of Saturday Night Live and The Office. YouTube’s attempt to capitalize on professional content? A tab on the site marked “Shows” that is home to programs like Bewitched. Really.

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YouTube Became hit by Singer's airline tune !!!

Report By Jano
A strung-out musician who blames United Airlines for breaking his prize guitar has taken revenge by writing a song that has become a YouTube hit.Dave Carroll composed "United Breaks Guitars" after his Taylor acoustic was damaged at Chicago's O'Hare airport.The fretting Canadian said he wrote the tune after months of trying to get the carrier to pay compensation.United Airlines said the 41-year-old musician's song would be used for internal customer service training.Mr Carroll says his instrument was wrecked by clumsy ground staff as he switched planes last year in Chicago, en route between Halifax and Nebraska. The musician was left with a 1,400 Canadian dollar ($1,200; £740) repair bill, he says.When the airline apparently struck a bum public relations note by refusing to take responsibility, he made the humorous folk music video and posted it online.Featuring his friends posing as indifferent flight attendants and butter-fingered baggage handlers, by Friday the clip had been viewed nearly 1.4m times on the video-sharing website.A United Airlines spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times: "His video is excellent and we plan to use it internally as a unique learning and training opportunity to ensure that all our customers receive better service."

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