YouTube one of the fastest growing website on the World Wide Web hosting more than 65,000 new video uploads. The site delivered an average of 100 million video views per day.
It was ranked the fifth-most-popular website on Alexa, far out-pacing even MySpace’s rate of growth. The website averaged nearly 20 million visitors per month according to Nielsen/NetRatings with around 44% female and 56% male visitors. The 12- to 17-year-old age group was dominant.
YouTube’s pre-eminence in the online market has been substantial. According to the website Hitwise.com, YouTube commanded up to 64% of the UK online video market.
The site has found its way into the hearts of many with their amazing services of video, and audios on any topic, Music of the viewers choice.
Youtube was created by PayPal employees as a video-sharing website where users could upload, share and view content. The Internet domain name “www.youtube.com” was activated on Monday, February 14, 2005, at 9:13 p.m.
YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim when they worked for PayPal, Prior to working for PayPal, Hurley studied design at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Chen and Karim studied computer science together at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
YouTube’s initial headquarters was above a pizzeria and Japanese restaurant in San Mateo, California.
The domain name “Youtube.com” was activated on February 14, 2005, with video upload options being integrated on April 23, 2005. The first YouTube video, titled “Me At The Zoo” was uploaded on April 23, 2005, and shows co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo.
YouTube began as an angel-funded enterprise working from a makeshift office in a garage. In November 2005, venture firm Sequoia Capital invested an initial $3.5 million, and Roelof Botha (a partner of the firm and former CFO of PayPal) joined the YouTube board of directors.
In April 2006, Sequoia and Artis Capital Management invested an additional $8 million in the company, which had experienced significant growth in its first few months.
Youtube Growth From 2006 till 2016
2005
- July – Video HTML Embedment
- July – Top videos page
- August – Stars rating system
- October – Playlist
- October – Full-screen view
- October – Subscriptions
2006
- January – Groups function
- February – Personalized profiles
- March – 10 minutes video limit
- April – Directors function
- May – Video responses
- May – Cell phone uploading
- June – Further personalized profiles
- June – Viewing history
2007
- June – Local language version
2008
- March – 480p videos
- March – video analytics tool
- December – Audioswap
2009
- January – Google Videos uploading halt
- July – 720p videos
- November – 1080p videos
- December – Automatic speech recognition
- December – Vevo launch
2010
- March – Thumbs rating system
- July – 4k Video
2011
- November – YouTube analytics
- November – Feature film rental
2012
- June – Merger with google video
2014
- October – 60fps video
2015
- March – 360 videos
- November – YouTube Red launches
2016
- February – YouTube Subscription service
Purchase by Google (2006)
On October 9, 2006, it was announced that the company would be purchased by Google for US$1.65 billion in stock, which was completed on November 13. At that time it was Google’s second-largest acquisition.
The agreement between Google and YouTube came after YouTube presented three agreements with media companies in an attempt to avoid copyright infringement lawsuits.
YouTube planned to continue operating independently, with its co-founders and 68 employees working within Google.
Google’s February 7, 2007, SEC filing revealed the breakdown of profits for YouTube’s investors after the sale to Google. In 2010, Chad Hurley’s profit was more than $395 million while Steve Chen’s profit was more than $326 million.
Person of the year (2006)
In 2006, Time Magazine featured a YouTube screen with a large mirror as its annual ‘Person of The Year’. It cited user-created media such as that posted on YouTube and featured the site’s originators along with several content creators.
The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times also reviewed posted content on YouTube in 2006, with particular regard to its effects on corporate communications and recruitment.
PC WorldMagazine named YouTube the ninth of its Top 10 Best Products of 2006. In 2007, both Sports Illustrated and Dime Magazine featured positive reviews of a basketball highlight video titled, The Ultimate Pistol Pete Maravich MIX.
The business model, advertising, and profits of Youtube
Before being purchased by Google, YouTube declared that it’s business model was advertisement-based, making 15 million dollars per month.
Google did not provide detailed figures for YouTube’s running costs, and YouTube’s revenues in 2007 were noted as “not material” in a regulatory filing In June 2008, a magazine article projected the 2008 revenue at $200 million, noting progress in advertising sales.
Some industry commentators have speculated that YouTube’s running costs (specifically the network bandwidth required) might be as high as 5 to 6 million dollars per month, thereby fuelling criticisms that the company, like many Internet startups, did not have a viable implemented business model. Advertisements were launched on the site beginning in March 2006.
In April, YouTube started using Google AdSense. YouTube subsequently stopped using AdSense but has resumed in local regions. Advertising is YouTube’s central mechanism for gaining revenue. This issue has also been taken up in scientific analysis.
Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams argue in their book Wikinomics that YouTube is an example of an economy that is based on mass collaboration and makes use of the Internet.
Youtube Networth
In the report, researchers said YouTube is worth between$26 billion and $40 billion, which would make it potentially more valuable than Twitter’s current $30 billion valuations.
Facebook topped $200billion in value today for the first time. Google as a whole is worth nearly $400billion.
