The GooTube Deal: Links & Opinions
Posted by Miles Evans
Wow it is official. GooTube! Google has done the predictable and bought the biggest video site on the internet YouTube for $1.65 Billion in stock.
I am a bit divided on this deal.
Obviously it completely makes total sense for Google to do this but it is certainly alarming. Microsoft, who had a large deal on the table to monetize YouTube, must be absolutely floored. All in all it is very reminiscant of the web 1.0 boom. Luckily the landscape is completely different, and in reality much of that is owed to Google.
Part of me feels I cannot think of an organization I would trust more to hold the keys to the kingdom. The work Google has done to allow anyone to monetize a website has completely changed the face of the internet. It's undeniable. Google has made more millionaires than maybe any other company before it.
And as of yet I have really seen nothing to think that Google is not incredibly responsible, organized and sticking to their motto: To not be evil. But what if this changes?
Socially, part of me hates this deal because it will further cement Google’s dominant hold on information filtering. I mean they were in a position years ago that demanded massive responsibilities – Why further complicate matters? It rubs me as a bit Orwellian to allow this much power to what at the end of the day is honestly just another mega-corporation that answers to share holders. It is also worth pointing out that resistance to monopolies is traditionally very strong online and I would expect people will become more and more annoyed with one company holding so much influence over what we read (and now see).
Google and Youtube hosted a conference call to discuss the deal. I think the MP3 will not be up that long so here is a local copy of the Q&A with analysts. Some good questions were asked here. They admit the deal was done in stock so it would be tax free :/
Google CEO Eric Schmidt : "...most people believe that this is just the beginning of an internet video revolution. And there will be many ways in which that video gets uploaded and monetized, with copyrights respected, which is another key component of the YouTube vision and Google’s as well."
YouTube founders Steve and Chad, on their aquisition by Google. The looks of shock and awe on their faces is priceless.
I expect there will be a ton of interesting comments from others as this news propagates...
Posted Oct 10, 2006 at 12:44 AM | Permalink | Trackback URL | Del.icio.us | DIGG!
Comments
Thanks for the shoutback to my post, I'm humbled by your placing me alongside blogs like that!
Posted by David Dalka on October 10, 2006 5:09 AM
You were quick to blog...Sometimes being fast is all it takes ;)
Posted by Miles Evans on October 10, 2006 7:08 AM
Lunacy. Is it any wonder the deal was done under a full moon? Utter, barking, hairy-arsed madness. This only goes to underline the fact that the lunatics are running the asylum, if ever there were any doubts.
I love Google but I am staggered that anybody would pay so much money for something built on such weak foundations.
What does Google get for 1.65 billion, huh? Mark my words, in a year, this won't look like such a sweet deal. Unless Google has a few things up their sleeves, which wouldn't surprise me.
However, I still maintain that there is very little intrinsic long-term value in the likes of YouTube. There aren't the barriers to entry and there aren't the kinds of long-term sustainable business models behind sites like this that such investments should require.
What made YouTube so succesful? Is it repeatable? Was it certain? Does anybody know?
What's to stop the next best thing taking over? We used to talk about eyeballs, stickiness, etc? Those were sound concepts, what happened to them?
Remember Altavista, Sun, Silicon Graphics, Netscape? Hell, remember Cray Supercomputers? Those even had technological barriers to entry to guard their market shares and their supremacy. Where are they now? They exist almost completely in name only, (apart from Sun, as far as I can remember) having basically gone belly up and been soaked up by larger firms.
Just ask newspaper publishers and TV programmers about solid business models.....
Posted by Nick on October 11, 2006 12:25 AM
Great comment. I honestly agree with most of it.
When I first heard about the myspace buy I was in shock that someone would pay so much for such a poster-boy for poor design, and shaky foundations, but I guess in light of GooTube it was a real bargain ;)
I guess nobody will know if it was worth it for a few quarters...I wonder what YT's ePCM is?
Posted by Miles Evans on October 11, 2006 12:40 AM
GooTube? lol... kind of a funny name
Posted by Colon on March 13, 2008 5:06 AM