EETimes.com – Google to acquire YouTube for $1.65 billion
Google Inc. on Monday said it has agreed to acquire video site YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in stock, a move that greatly expands the search engine giant’s advertising reach in online video.
The acquisition would combine the largest company in online search with one of the largest sites for video sharing. The deal was announced the same day both companies unveiled separate content deals with major record companies.
In a joint teleconference, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley said the acquisition would give the startup, founded in February 2005, the money and engineering resources needed to add services and accelerate its growth. In July, YouTube was the third most popular site for streaming or downloading video, followed by No. 1 Yahoo and social-network MySpace.com, according to ComScore Networks.
Eric Schmidt, chief executive for Google, said YouTube was the “clear winner on the social-networking side of video.”
“That’s what really drove us to pursue this transaction,” Schmidt said.
Social networking? What planet is Eric from? This looks to be the topic for the Marketwatch column this week.
What about Google Video? Will it be gone?
I guess this i the same old: If you can’t beat them, buy them!
So much for the Google does no evil…
I suggest a new catch phrase to run with the “I Get No Spam” John
I’m John C Dvorak and “This Is A Bogus Story”.
#30 ..There are ways to make the numbers work so it makes sense. But in fact it’s going to be another Broadcast.com when all is said and done.
Didn’t i just hear you poo poop this on TWIT?
John, you’re killin’ me: About an hour after I saw the news, I listened to the latest TWIT, and there you were confidently proclaiming the story was utterly bogus. Methinks the geeks will be particularly cranky this week!
YouTube would have been stupid not to jump at ANY deal. My $.02:
http://ckpcreative.com/lohad/?p=543
What did Google do that was evil? They bought a technology? Well, not so much a technology, but a productivity burning site with no demonstrative merit because it was superior to their own, which didn’t waste so much productivity because it sucked and no one used it.
Sure, I like watching Daily Show clips on YouTube… But I still don’t get it. What is the revenue model? Do ads make that much money? Since when? You kidding me? Really?
For every clip that is interesting (and ultimately useless) there are 150 clips of 12 year olds lip syncing to Paris Hilton… badly… as if there were a way to lip sync that wasn’t bad.
I want to go back in time… pre-2001… when Tech TV was cool (and Michaela Pereira was the object of my every fantasy, and not just languishing away on local LA news) and some actual effort was required to get on the Internet (not cost, but effort). The modern Internet is a collection flea markets and strip malls, around the corner from the Red Light district, and up the street from the coffee shop where the Conspiracy Theory nutbag club meets on Tuesdays.
In answer to a question from another thread… Yes I do have a job, but it isn’t very interesting so I do this instead.
OhForTheLoveOf , well put! …as usual.
The buy was smart, in that it takes a brand off the board and increases the Google immersion process in one swell foop. On the price they paid, John McEnroe said that best, “YOU CAN’T BE F%^#$%G SERIOUS!!!
Poor John. Hey, we’re all human and we all make mistakes and so I choose to publically not ridicule John for being so wrong on TWIT. I won’t bring up the fact that he was not just wrong but condescending to the blog and the NYTimes. I will also not bring up that the silly horoscopes are still on the site while he riducules anything faith based. It’s the least I can do to extend him grace and sympathy during this crow eating time.
PS. Remember when you are usually right (which, yes, John usually is), the screw ups become more obvious.
“The modern Internet is a collection flea markets and strip malls, around the corner from the Red Light district, and up the street from the coffee shop where the Conspiracy Theory nutbag club meets on Tuesdays.”
Kind of like an electronic Wal Mart. Glad to hear you have a job.
Uncle Dave’s off the wall prediction of the day: This is the start of the GooTube Network.
Google is building enormous data sites around the world which can handle vast quantities of data. Just the sort of thing needed for transporting video services, especially if they use it in conjunction with all the dark fiber they supposedly are buying up.
Suppose YouTube becomes the front end to a video and information network. Here are some of the things they could have:
– regular TV shows after network airing (fee)
– TV shows created for GooTube (free and fee)
– theatrical movies (fee)
– user created content (free)
– networked video games (WoW, etc — fee)
– video conferencing (fee to businesses)
– video phone service (VoIP, webcam, etc)
– audio & video podcasts (free and fee)
– music (downloads and streaming, free and fee)
– other video related stuff I’m forgetting
Toss in web based tools for editing videos you’ve uploaded and other tools and you have a one stop shop for video related transfer. And none of it involves Google creating content, just creating the means to access it from one location.
If this sounds crazy, it could be those odd leaves on the burger I had for lunch.
One more thing, with Google’s searching and indexing facilities, they could make finding what you want very easy.
$1.65 Billion – It’s only money!
No. “It’s only stock!”
21 They have 10 billion in cash. They didn’t use it because they didn’t want to take the risk. Shareholders took the risk for them.
People shouldn’t be buying stock in a company if they don’t trust the Board of Directors.
Why spend the money, when the sellers are willing to become “paper” multi-millionaires?
There is also the Golden Handcuffs effect. They only stay rich if Google stock stays valuable… and as officers of the company they can’t sell it without making advance-notice filings with the SEC.
41 And none of it involves Google creating content, just creating the means to access it from one location.
And for still photography, they not only provide photo webpages, but the software to edit and upload the photos = Picassa.
http://picasa.google.com/
Not creating content, just creating the means to edit & “publish” it.
Why all the outrage? YouTube is an excellent site. I notice, John D. you have several YouTube videos on your site here. YouTube is the king of video, no one is even CLOSE!
It’s embeded EVERYWHERE, it’s the gold standard. It’s a clever buy for Google.
I guess a lot of people here don’t understand that Google’s own video broadcast service (Google Video) was a YouTube competitor, since they couldn’t beat YouTube they just bought it like good ol’ Microsoft usually does.
Thus I say: “Google does no evil”? LOL yeah right.
I think we’re forgetting something important.. ROI. How long will it take for Google to make their money back putting ADWORDS on the appropriate videos? a few years? its worth it then. What bothers people is that alot of programmer types know they could have made YouTube themselves and they’re wondering why THEY aren’t making a billion bux.
Its a good investment for google easy.