Comments on: Signs the boom is entering the 3rd quarter http://blog.oogalabs.com/2007/05/29/signs-the-boom-is-entering-the-3rd-quarter/ Ooga Labs Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:37:53 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Mark Pesce http://blog.oogalabs.com/2007/05/29/signs-the-boom-is-entering-the-3rd-quarter/#comment-8 Mark Pesce Sat, 02 Jun 2007 06:48:58 +0000 http://blog.oogalabs.com/index.php/2007/05/29/signs-the-boom-is-entering-the-3rd-quarter/#comment-8 Does it matter that YouTube doesn't have a business model? They're the 4th busiest site on the Web, according to Alexa. Which means Google - for a measley 1.6 billion dollars - now owns the #2 and #4 sites on the Web. That's a hilariously cheap investment, even if YouTube never earns a penny, and simply costs them bandwidth dollars from now until the end of time. Of course, assuming that you need to "find the revenue model" for YouTube is _precisely_ what sunk the ship the last time around. Relax. Take a breath. The web isn't going to die - even if some companies do. And I honestly doubt that YouTube will _ever_ die. Google could crush it, I suppose, but right now it's _the_ brand in the entire online video space, and that's a really tough thing to kill. You'd have to do it intensionally. If we all do take that deep breath, we'd see that the most interesting thing about YouTube is what it enables: all sorts of micro-audiences having interesting conversations about all sorts of interesting things. And that may be the answer: there is no one "model" for making money off of YouTube, just as there is no one audience for YouTube. Ok, so your marketing staff will be hella confused - and that's a good thing. When they figure out that what they need to do is get the hell out of the way, and let the communities market to themselves - perhaps taking a few points off the top, like an eBay - they'll realize they have a cash machine unlike anything anyone ever dreamt of. But such visionary thoughts from Web2.0 marketers may be too much to ask. Does it matter that YouTube doesn’t have a business model? They’re the 4th busiest site on the Web, according to Alexa. Which means Google – for a measley 1.6 billion dollars – now owns the #2 and #4 sites on the Web. That’s a hilariously cheap investment, even if YouTube never earns a penny, and simply costs them bandwidth dollars from now until the end of time.

Of course, assuming that you need to “find the revenue model” for YouTube is _precisely_ what sunk the ship the last time around. Relax. Take a breath. The web isn’t going to die – even if some companies do. And I honestly doubt that YouTube will _ever_ die. Google could crush it, I suppose, but right now it’s _the_ brand in the entire online video space, and that’s a really tough thing to kill. You’d have to do it intensionally.

If we all do take that deep breath, we’d see that the most interesting thing about YouTube is what it enables: all sorts of micro-audiences having interesting conversations about all sorts of interesting things. And that may be the answer: there is no one “model” for making money off of YouTube, just as there is no one audience for YouTube. Ok, so your marketing staff will be hella confused – and that’s a good thing. When they figure out that what they need to do is get the hell out of the way, and let the communities market to themselves – perhaps taking a few points off the top, like an eBay – they’ll realize they have a cash machine unlike anything anyone ever dreamt of.

But such visionary thoughts from Web2.0 marketers may be too much to ask.

]]> By: NewTeeVee » Is YouTube the Bubble Blower? http://blog.oogalabs.com/2007/05/29/signs-the-boom-is-entering-the-3rd-quarter/#comment-7 NewTeeVee » Is YouTube the Bubble Blower? Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:01:01 +0000 http://blog.oogalabs.com/index.php/2007/05/29/signs-the-boom-is-entering-the-3rd-quarter/#comment-7 [...] Currier at Ooga Labs, a startup in downtown San Francisco, recently posted an interesting piece of speculation. Based on anecdotal evidence (better parties, bigger marketing departments, better looking people) [...] [...] Currier at Ooga Labs, a startup in downtown San Francisco, recently posted an interesting piece of speculation. Based on anecdotal evidence (better parties, bigger marketing departments, better looking people) [...]

]]>