YouTube+Eases+The+Way+To+More+Revenue


 * YouTube Eases the Way to More Revenue**

The battle between user's piracy and Youtube may soon be coming to an end because the video uploading giant has figured out a way to profit from video piracy. Uploaded copyrighted content that users have been uploading for years has always been a source of tension between Google (owner's of YouTube) and the media companies who owned the material. "[S]ince last year, a growing number of media companies have stopped insisting that YouTube take down those unauthorized clips. Instead, they are choosing to claim the videos as their own, and allowing YouTube to sell advertising when people watch them" (Heft, 2009). The collected revenue is then split between content owners and YouTube.

YouTube has stated that a third of the video streams on which they display advertising are clips that have been uploaded without permission. That number could grow after a deal, to be announced Wednesday, will make it easier for companies to upload new content into YouTube's library of copyrighted material (Heft, 2009). Agreements have been reached with three small companies (Harmonic, Telestream, and Digital Rapids) whose software helps convert video and audio content into the digital files that allow companies to transmit shows on other mediums. "Other makers of video identification systems like Audible Magic, Vobile and Civolution, which help media companies spot their content on sites across the Web, already work with Harmonic. And Auditude, whose software is used by some media owners to identify and make money from videos on MySpace and other sites, already offers a system that automatically converts live television into digital fingerprints" (Heft, 2009).

The agreement with YouTube is significant because 40% of all online video seen in the United States is seen on YouTube.

In July 2009, a popular video of a couple and their bridal party (viewed 26.6 million times) dancing to Chris Brown's "Forever" was claimed by Jive Records who quickly put up ads on the side of the video and links to Amazon and iTunes which resulted in extra revenue for the record company.

YouTube putting advertising in their videos relates directly to a point brought up by Baran, "the same technology used to change the ads behind the batter in a televised baseball game is now employed to insert product placements into programs where no placement originally existed..." (p. 343, 2009). In a way though, this could also be considered ironic (in relation to YouTube advertising) because in the example with the wedding video, they were inadvertently advertising Chris Brown's song, "Forever." Whenever a user uploads clips from a television show or a brand new song, they are advertising that song because they are putting it out there for people to listen to and enjoy, which may lead to people looking further into the program or song. Cyberadvertising, the convergence of print and broadcast advertising with the web, is on the rise because these ads tend to intrude on the user's web session whether they like it or not (Baran, 344, 2009).

Advertising in general is the sponsoring of goods, services, or ideas through any medium which the public can access. The major criticisms of advertising are that it "creates false values and impels people to buy things that neither need nor want" (Advertising, 2009). Defenders of advertising say that advertising is meant to only sell products, not create values and that it furthers product improvement through competition. When YouTube puts advertisements into their videos, it will only be helpful to the person who does want to buy the song or maybe even the television show on sites such as iTunes. When the advertisements appear in YouTube videos, they always have an option to click out of it, so if the viewer doesn't want to see the ad, they don't have to.

(2009). Advertising. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1. http://search.ebscohost.com.libproxy.temple.edu

Baran, S. (2010). Introduction to mass communication. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Company Inc.

Heft, M. (2009, October 6). YouTube eases the way to more revenue. The New York Times, B4.