YouTube: 1 Billion Viewers, No Profit

[Overl0rd]

 

"Despite "Gangnam Style" having over two billion views, hosting countless other viral clips and netting over a billion users per-month, YouTube can't seem to turn a profit. How's that? Well, after paying for the infrastructure that makes Google's video empire possible (and its content partners), The Wall Street Journal says that YouTube didn't contribute to Mountain View's earnings. The culprit, apparently, is that most users arrive at videos via links, rather than daily visits to the YouTube homepage where Google could charge a premium for ads. WSJ also reports that the site's reach isn't very wide either, with one source's estimate that nine percent of viewers account for a whopping 85 percent of online-video views. That makes it a much less appealing audience for advertisers than traditional TV programming, despite the outfit's increasing investment in original content.

 

Google's hoping that the Music Key subscription service, among other ideas, can hold the tide of red ink back and turn that sea black. Another method is with targeted ads, so you can get inundated with sales pitches for stuff you've recently browsed on Amazon. WSJ's sources say that those might be a bit harder to add than Google previously expected, though, and thankfully could take some time to roll out. At least there's some form of silver lining here."

 

This might be why Google now also wants the get paid by sponsors...

 

SOURCE:

 

http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/26/youtube-no-profit/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/viewers-dont-add-up-to-profit-for-youtube-1424897967(does require login)

[Hatsune Miku 「 」]

And I suppose my ad filtering hosts file doesn't do them any justice either.

[KRImSIN]

Turns off adblock.....

[The_Strict_Nein]

"Adblock is disabled"

 

"Youtube making $10000000000000 Billion dollars anually"

[Snadzies]

*Keeps ad block on*

 

Last time is disabled it the exact same Budweiser human pac-man ad ran on every single video I watched for 2 days.

Normally I don't mind ads so long as it isn't the same ad 2 dozen times in a row.

[SuperPug]

The problem is that theres thousands of useless videos uploaded every day that maybe get 10 views and then just sit there on the servers taking up space. Youtube should just start deleting crap automatically if it doesn't get any attention - problem solved.

[Virtual01]

I now feel extra good about having adblock on. I have no sympathy for Google.

[DuckDodgers]

If they still can't find a way to turn a decent profit, the only option that's left is to reduce the huge expenditures for running such a heavy site. No wonder Google has been pushing both HTTP 2.0 and HTML5 Video standards for quite a while, trying to cut as much traffic overhead as possible.

[That Norwegian Guy]

Good. Hopefully YouTube will one day die.

[minibois]

The problem is that theres thousands of useless videos uploaded every day that maybe get 10 views and then just sit there on the servers taking up space. Youtube should just start deleting crap automatically if it doesn't get any attention - problem solved.

Yeah, so that would mean no other channels can grow anymore?

I dunno man, that sounds like not a very good plan...

[Paralectic]

The problem is that theres thousands of useless videos uploaded every day that maybe get 10 views and then just sit there on the servers taking up space. Youtube should just start deleting crap automatically if it doesn't get any attention - problem solved.

Who knows what is crap?

I've uploaded alot of videos, not getting any views. They are decent videos but should they've been deleted? No.

[SuperPug]

Who knows what is crap?

I've uploaded alot of videos, not getting any views. They are decent videos but should they've been deleted? No.

 

Not saying everything that doesnt get views is crap... But every video that just sits there costs youtube money. And theres Millions of those thats why they're having trouble making money.

[SuperPug]

Yeah, so that would mean no other channels can grow anymore?

I dunno man, that sounds like not a very good plan...

 

I said ''if it doesnt get any attention'' They could implement something like deleting idle videos after 6 or 12 months...

[DuckDodgers]

Not saying everything that doesnt get views is crap... But every video that just sits there costs youtube money. And theres Millions of those thats why they're having trouble making money.

 

Storage is not the problem, especially for outfit like Google. It's all the traffic that's being generated (uploading and streaming). Storage is cheap, traffic (and processing) is expensive.

[SuperPug]

Storage is not the problem, especially for outfit like Google. It's all the traffic that's being generated (uploading and streaming). Storage is cheap, traffic (and processing) is expensive.

 

http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html    300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute 

 

I'd think that becomes a problem after a while no matter how cheap storage is. Videos that are being watched can be monetized so i cant imagine google having an issue with that.

 

Of course the bandwidth for all those uploads is probably very costly aswell...

[Misanthrope]

Yeah, this article is deceiving: Google never makes money from their products directly. That is not what they want to do honestly. They PAY phone makers to use Android in their phones, they give away Gmail accounts, google drive space, they never charge a dime for google maps and you can bet good money they are not making money on Google Fiber either. All of that costs them money, quite a bit of money.

In the end however, it doesn't matter if one part is not making them money, that's not what they want. What they want it's for you to basically constantly be on their ecosystem, whenever you're watching videos, using email, browsing, searching things, using your phone, etc. That for them is worth 100x more than mere youtube add revenue. They are close to a point in which we just can't get away from them no matter what without significantly and drastically decreasing our online (and even some offline) experiences.

And that is a strategy that works better than just charging everybody a subscription fee to watch videos, once there is no other search engine, no other phone OS, no other mail provider, no other web browser, once everything is google, then they can charge you, destroy ad blocking do whatever.

[PortentousLad]

*Keeps ad block on*

 

Last time is disabled it the exact same Budweiser human pac-man ad ran on every single video I watched for 2 days.

Normally I don't mind ads so long as it isn't the same ad 2 dozen times in a row.

yeah was google supposed to be good at predicting what interests me?

- So when I bash the "skip ad" button wildly and start every video muted because I cannot stand those stupid German mobile plan ads what does that tell google? Maybe try again next video I might like it then?

[TheKDub]

Good. Hopefully YouTube will one day die.

I feel that YouTube has made some pretty large mistakes (such as changing channel pages so we don't get backgrounds anymore...) though they have also added some pretty nice things too. (like 60fps video)

All companies will die eventually, so wait who knows how long and you'll have your wish

I just hope Linus can still get enough money from another site in case it ever does die.

[FakezZ]

Yeah, this article is deceiving: Google never makes money from their products directly. That is not what they want to do honestly. They PAY phone makers to use Android in their phones, they give away Gmail accounts, google drive space, they never charge a dime for google maps and you can bet good money they are not making money on Google Fiber either. All of that costs them money, quite a bit of money.

In the end however, it doesn't matter if one part is not making them money, that's not what they want. What they want it's for you to basically constantly be on their ecosystem, whenever you're watching videos, using email, browsing, searching things, using your phone, etc. That for them is worth 100x more than mere youtube add revenue. They are close to a point in which we just can't get away from them no matter what without significantly and drastically decreasing our online (and even some offline) experiences.

And that is a strategy that works better than just charging everybody a subscription fee to watch videos, once there is no other search engine, no other phone OS, no other mail provider, no other web browser, once everything is google, then they can charge you, destroy ad blocking do whatever.

This. Exactly fucking this. You sir deserve a cookie

[swifty7]

@super pug

 

who's the girl in your avatar? If you don't mind me asking

[Psykomantis00]

*Keeps ad block on*

 

Last time is disabled it the exact same Budweiser human pac-man ad ran on every single video I watched for 2 days.

Normally I don't mind ads so long as it isn't the same ad 2 dozen times in a row.

This. I don't mind watching an ad every now an then as a form of payment but literally watching the same ad every time a video loads is goddamn annoying. Adblock forever. 

[ShadowCaptain]

Slightly worrying for the future of YouTube

 

they either A) spend less money on improving the platform or abandon it

or they B) have EVEN more aggressive advertising or subcriptions

[dmegatool]

@super pug

 

who's the girl in your avatar? If you don't mind me asking

Google Image it... 

 

Answer: Sasha Grey

[Techteen14]

*Keeps ad block on*

 

Last time is disabled it the exact same Budweiser human pac-man ad ran on every single video I watched for 2 days.

Normally I don't mind ads so long as it isn't the same ad 2 dozen times in a row.

Now its those stupid GEICO ads. STOP IT! GET A HOLD OF YOUR AD DEPARTMENT, WARREN BUFFETT!

[ADM-Ntek]

The problem is that theres thousands of useless videos uploaded every day that maybe get 10 views and then just sit there on the servers taking up space. Youtube should just start deleting crap automatically if it doesn't get any attention - problem solved.

 

they should also go after all those duplicates just look at stuff like trailers or music 100 of versions of the same video with just another watermark.