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Top 7 Theories: Why YouTube Decided to Pay Creators… Finally
Okay. I’ve been urging YouTube to share advertising revenue since before I started this blog a year ago. They finally decided to do so today.
This was one of WillVideoforFood’s top 10 predictions for 2007. Needless to say, we’re very excited (see our video reaction). But why now? Top 7 theories.
- YouTube sensed the defection to LiveVideo, and is using ad sharing to hold on to creators (which will, in turn, keep viewers).
- Major media companies are demanding it, and YouTube knows it would be risky to pay some creators and not all.
- Chad Hurley, YouTube cofounder, had too much wine at the economic summit and decided to show he has a heart. Forgot to tell Google.
- Revver was starting to overtake YouTube’s traffic. Kidding.
- It’s the only way to ensure the site’s viability now that almost anyone can replicate community.
- It’s the right thing to do. Current contributors are attracting eyeballs and creating advertising revenue. Take Judson Laipply (Evolution of Dance creator- as seen in image). He’s approaching 40 million views. Do you realize how much advertising revenue that represents for YouTube? Even a couple pennies a view would have made him a millionaire.
- Google supported it — similar to the way they handle Adwords/Adsense.
#8 They realize what a smash the GooTube Conspiracy is going to be and wanted to jump on the nalts bandwagon before the train leaves the station (and yes I realize that I mixed my metaphors, but I’ve been drinking heavily.)
oops I put that other comment in the wrong place – it was kinda funny so I’ll repete it
You forgot the reason youtube did this today. It is because they wanted to celebrate the birth of the first real independent artist, WAM. No, not George Michael, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Who was a Secret Society Free Mason and rode a yellow school bus. Twinkel Twinkle – ABCDEFG… – need I say more?
Will YouTube at some point decide to delete the total video views in order to accomodate to the new system? It’s kinda boring to see those top10 of all time videos just accumulating additional views.
I hope you tube comes up with a play list device so I can pick several videos one rigtht after the other especially favorites.
I loath to appear to be raining on the YouTube Giveaway Parade, but I’ve been around amatuer video for a minute and we’ve been told good things were going to happen for amatuer videologists that turned out to be good for no one but the host. Grouper and Blinkx come to mind. Seller beware.
You forgot to add that Jason “Evolution of Dance” Laipply is an Australian. 😉 Comme moi. 40 million views. Astounding isn’t it? Meanwhile he’s driving an old clunker and eating at McDonalds, I bet.
I saw a blurb about this on my local news, tonight (though I first heard of it on YouTube – duh). During the teaser, early in the broadcast, the anchorman said that posting videos on YouTube could soon make you “rich”. Ha. “Yeah, right” was the first thing to spring into my mind!
When they say stuff like “could soon make you rich,” I hear corporate foot steps climbing the stairs. Will this turn into a Youtube Armature American Idol? And who would host such a show?
[Hands over ears]: “ahh lalalalalalal ah lalalalala”
Interesting. Google buying Revver. I don’t know if Revver would be on their radar, but it would be a good offensive move to stop one of the smaller sites from gaining traction in the ad-sharing space. It would be hell to integrate the technologies, but they’d pick up a year of experience, smart people, relationships with media, and some patents.
Notice that this only happened *after* YouTube recognized the ‘Viral Video Genius’ and retroactively took *all of his advice*. Huh? Huh? Very suspicious…
“Revver was starting to overtake YouTube’s traffic. Kidding.”
I seriously bet one day it might. If you think about it, Atom Films (pay me for the mention please) has been around for AGES and is in a higher quality to youtube and other ‘amature’ viral video sites. They have gained audience through paying their ‘creators’ for ages before youtube.
A site that pays creators will soon enough kick out the little people because their annoyed at getting no views and all the people who have gained millions won’t be able to get enough of it.
YouTubes move icould be quite a bad one. Remember when you used to be a little tuber and had 1 or 2 subscribers and had around 0-1 view per video? What would you be thinking if one of your friends had 10k+ subscribers who refuses to mention you, wouldn’t you feel really gelous(sp?). You’d either leave through frustration or give up making videos.
I’ve seen plenty of people gain thousands of subscribers in the time it took me to gain 10’s. People cheat in this industry though various means, mostly though giving a false friendship to make you subscribe then completely disowning you. People spam just look at the Youtube Theater for example. through spam they have become ‘big’.
This is turning off topic and rather poopie, lets move on.
“He’s approaching 40 million views. Do you realize how much advertising revenue that represents for YouTube? Even a couple pennies a view would have made him a millionaire.”
That would actually make him a $800,000 ‘air’, In my currency that would only be around $400,000. You Americans need to fix your umm… I should know this I do business studies….. Just fix your exchange rate! Let us English folk get more cash!
Lets just put it this way: I get bored during ‘free time’ at school…
Tripplehelix
I actually became “known” through advertising (you call it spamming, I call it advertising), but became “big” (although not really that big), when I was featured.
I wasn’t going to spend all that time producing something for no one to watch it. I had to get the word out somehow.
love the lists