Google you tube revenue down
 

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080709/google_youtube.html

Google's YouTube ad revenue short of expectations: report
Wednesday July 9, 2:50 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Advertising revenue from YouTube is likely to total about $200 million this year and thus fall short of parent company Google Inc's <GOOG.O expectations, The Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.


Google also has significantly cut the number of YouTube clips it will sell ads against, so as not to sell them against videos that may violate copyrights, the newspaper said, citing one source.

Google and YouTube are being sued for copyright infringement in two cases involving YouTube and a second suit where the lead plaintiff is the English

The Internet advertising leader only sells ads against clips posted on YouTube that are approved by media companies or other partners, which represent just 4 percent of the clips on YouTube, a source said.

Much of the remainder are user-generated clips where rights are uncertain and where advertisers may be nervous about placing their ads against videos of unknown origin.

Google also plans accepting "preroll" and "postroll" ads to run before or after some YouTube clips. These ad formats, while considered effective with advertisers are often unpopular with Web users, one of the sources said.

The Journal reported that Google North American ad sales chief Tim Armstrong has been scrutinizing YouTube's ad sales system and that he and his colleagues had identified 105 problems with YouTube's ad sales, again citing one source.

"Over the past several months we've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't for our community and our advertisers," a YouTube spokesman said. The spokesman declined to comment on specific figures in the Journal report.

That will just cause a mass of people switch to the competitors, those have probably the same problems. It's a no win situation.

I suppose the whole web 2.0. bubble is going to burst very soon.

I disagree. I think Google is going about this pretty smartly. They don't have much real quality content they can put postrolls in front of that people would accept, I agree. However stuff like:

https://youtube.com/user/journeymanpictures

or

https://youtube.com/user/AlJazeeraEnglish

Two of my own subscriptions I'd definitely put up with a preroll to watch. And with the lawsuit on the table, I think this is stuff you won't really see the other major players wanting to pirate and sells ads next to if people don't want to put up with the pre-roll on youtube. If it is some 1 or 2 minute clip than no, but if it is a quality piece running 5-10+ minutes long that interests me it wouldn't phase me a bit. And I'd imagine once they start doing it companies with quality stuff might actually be tempted to put it on there with the hopes of getting a decent return.

Lawsuits aside, which could have a big impact on youtube (though I doubt they will lose outright if at all), I think Google will eventually turn it into a profitable enterprise - though perhaps they may not be able to monetize the percentage of videos initially predicted - it will have give them a firm foot in the video advertising door no doubt. If you have a look at the 'show partner only videos' option it seems to me Google is taking on 'partners' like crazy, and just about anyone with non-pirated stuff and a few views is getting picked up. I'd imagine their revenue numbers should climb pretty impressively from here.

Meaning to divide the content into channels that have its targeted audience already?

Definitely the way to go, but at the end, what we talk about is again programming for targeted audience, which is somewhat a departure from the original share your videos 2.0. model.

I am not sure how they will implement it to be honest, though I'd imagine they will keep more or less the same structure. I know for sure they won't have pre-rolls on any short content, and I highly doubt any 30 second pre-rolls (more likely 15-20 seconds). And I'd imagine unlike most news websites, etc that run pre-rolls there won't be a massive load/refresh time between the ending of the pre-roll and the starting of the clip. Google has been testing it for a while now, I'd imagine they know pretty much what will be acceptable to the community. I doubt they will separate the content with pre-rolls too much from the mainsite though, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a little tag next to them in search indicating they have it. But than again perhaps what the red 'partner' tag in the corner of the video is a 'be prepared for some type of advertising' sign.

On a side note though they have indicated some divergence from the simple model though with https://youtube.com/ytscreeningroom. I wouldn't be surprised again if those videos showing pre-rolls also run in higher quality, and at a larger size like the screening room vids. It might be a further way to break it to the community without too much fuss.

Seems like it was, is and will be content vs. videosharing.

I suppose the content is what keeps millions coming back regularly to youtube, where do we go if we want to have a flashback on a fav band or comedy or something - youtube, it's not like I want to check if Joe from Arkansas didn't added a new video of how he rocks his lawn mover.

Of course there is the viral potential, where you can submit your own video and then bug and share with 100 friends, that's a great supplement that will get (or rather got) new people to the site and creating their own profiles, but what will keep them coming back regularly is the content with media power.

Seems they've built millions of returning audience on the content they haven't had rights to air and now need to find a way how to keep it interesting enough to keep them, or better to keep those who can be monetized.