October 10th, 2006 by Lloyd Gofton
Further to yesterday’s post on Google’s acquisition of YouTube, the deal has now gone through for £883 million.
Interestingly, a few copyright deals also went through prior to the final announcement, allowing some major content providers to set up deals straight away. Specifically, Vivendi’s Universal Music, Sony BMG and TV network CBS all signed agreements to license music and video clips to YouTube.
YouTube will remain a separate brand, but Google will add the financial and technology muscle to push it on to greater achievements.
We will wait to see how Google monetizes YouTube, but expect to see further licensing deals, potentially a few licensing court cases, and a solid revenue platform added in the form of Google’s AdSense. Further revenue may come from subscription and/or submission fees.
The new YouTube era will offer additional opportunities for businesses of all types, not only through copyright benefits, but also via advertising and PR, the latter of which had grown in popularity prior to Google’s takeover.
Congratulations to Chad Hurely and Steve Chen founders of YouTube, who woke up this morning as two of America’s most successful business people.
Technorati tags: youtube, google, advertising, licensing
