News Home > Google News
Google plans to share YouTube ad revenue with users
Search engine Google is planning to share the revenue gained from YouTube with users of the video sharing website, according to the Financial Times.YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley revealed the news at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, adding that it had not yet been decided how large the payments would be. The scheme could be in operation within months.
Separately, reports suggest that Google's ad serving policies are hindering its growth in the world of big brands.
The search engine insists on trafficking and reporting the ads it places both online and in the print media – something that is not welcomed by big ad agencies who are not allowed to use third-party management services such as DoubleClick and Atlas.
Andreas Roell, president and chief executive of Geary Interactive, told ClickZ: "Google has built this closed loop world, which I think is only a short-term prospect for them. They need to open it up."
The last few months have seen Google attempting to diversify its revenue streams by beginning various ad ventures. A tie-up with US newspapers has proved to be a particular success and the firm also bought YouTube in order to begin online video advertising.
However, a report on AdAge revealed that the two companies will stay largely independent of each other and will play to their respective strengths. YouTube will remain the place for sharing videos, while Google Video will create new video technologies dealing with monetisation.
In the meantime, Google defended its position on big brand advertising, saying: "Google believes in providing users, advertisers and publishers with the best possible advertising experience while maintaining user privacy and quality.
"In order to manage this experience effectively, Google serves all ads that run on Google.com and the Google content and search advertising networks. We allow for third-party click-tracking, but not serving at this time."
Google News posted on 29 January 2007
