Yes, YouTube Is A Business. Did You Just Figure That Out?
By Rich Menga on Apr 20, 2009 in Editorials | comments(4)
I personally find it comical how many users of the YouTube site believe they have "rights" on a private system that doesn’t grant them any. I also find it comical many believe that they can simply dictate to Google what they should and shouldn’t do with their own video sharing web site that’s free.
A classic example of this is in this video. Of course, you’ve got the standard "YouTube is dead" message (geez, how many times have we heard that?), followed by a seriously lame cinematic-style soundtrack and stuffed with a lot of "GOOGLE, YOU MUST DO THIS AND THIS AND THAT" dictator-style crapola. Way to put on the spin there, guy. You should work for Fox News.
It is very well known that Google has been trying like crazy for the past several years to turn a profit out of the YouTube site because it’s been losing money from day one. Everybody knew more big names were coming. Everybody knew more ads were coming. Everybody knew video advertisements were coming.
None of the upcoming changes for YouTube should be a surprise to anybody. And yet some are just "shocked" by it.
Be shocked all you want. YouTube is a business, and Google is trying to make some money with the site. In its first few years online, YouTube was a free-for-all. Rules be damned. Law be damned. And Google literally paid the price for it by being sued left and right several times. Lessons were learned and now they follow the rules as they were ordered to.
Now comes the point where they’re making good with all the businesses that were previously enemies. They’re saying, "We follow the rules now. Let’s make a deal." Deals were made. And you’ll be seeing them soon.
To all fervent YouTube "community" users: Please stop whining just because Google is trying to turn a profit from something that’s been losing money hand over fist for years. And yes, you are whining. You don’t have to pay to use the site. And you could use another video sharing site if you wanted to. So shaddup.
Oh, and one final note: The video linked above mentions Firefox 3 because it’s not a Google product and that you should use it because of that. Answer this: Why do you think Google is the default search engine in the Firefox browser? I’ll tell you. It’s because Google is the single largest overall fiscal contributor to the Mozilla Foundation, the makers of Firefox. Looks like you’ll have to start using Opera or IE.

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