FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Digg this story please)
Philadelphia, PA: Sept. 27, 2006: WillVideoforFood announces the tie winners of the “YouTube Bubble Burst” contest. More than 50 entries predicted dates between Octembuary 5, 2006 to 1 AD.

Contest rules stipulated that YouTube’s bubble burst would be determined by the occurance any of the three following events:

1. YouTube falls from its number one position share of online videos (which we did not predict would occur first, but that’s why we don’t invest.
2. YouTube announces its sale to a large media player, who ultimately over commercializes, sanitizes and rides the business down a black hole.
3. YouTube has a cover story on its failed business model by any of the following publications: Newsweek, Time, Forbes, or Fortune.

Condition #1 was satisfied when comScore reported that YouTube lost its number one position.

Zack Scott, an engineer and videographer, was the second place winner with a prediction of Sept. 26, 2006. Sharon Odom Fling, an online marketer of something we don’t understand, was the first place winner with an Oct. 1, 2006 prediction (her birthday).

Zack’s date was closer to the actual Sept. 25 date that comScore reportedd MySpace trumped YouTube in July. However Zack put his date in the pool the day he read the news in the press. So while he cheated, the rules did not forbid this. His tie is a tribute to his creativity. Zack Scott is the current favorite for the “Crap in a Tiffany Bag” contest with “The Bird and the Egg.” MarquisdeJolie, a homeless Texan who is known as the “Andy Warhol of online video,” (by me) is also in the lead with “MadV Magic.” Again, we’re not sure what Sharon does but she’s got a website selling something.

Both Sharon and Zack will receive an “I Guessed the Date of YouTube’s Demise” t-shirt (custom made at CafeExpress). More importantly, this post hails these individuals as great forecasters of the beginning of the end of YouTube, and the dawn of the next generation of online video. Let the fun begin as the online-video space matures and the “ad sharing” businesses prosper.
YouTube will probably contest comScore’s calculation, and Hitwise may have another point of view. But in the interest of announcing the much-anticipated winners… we’re going with comScore’s data. MySpace stole YouTube’s number one position, and Sharon and Zack have a wardrobe enhancement. If they send me their addresses.