Google snaps up YouTube...

[U2Fanatic4ever]

Found this today...wow...

Google Snaps Up YouTube for $1.65B

Oct 9, 4:24 PM (ET)

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google Inc. (GOOG) snapped up YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion Monday in deal that catapults the Internet search leader to a leading role in the online video revolution. The all-stock acquisition unites one of the Internet's marquee companies with one of its rapidly rising stars.

The price makes YouTube, a still-unprofitable startup, by far the most expensive purchase made by Google during its eight-year history.

Although some cynics have questioned YouTube's staying power, Google is betting that the popular Web site will provide it an increasingly lucrative marketing hub as more viewers and advertisers migrate from television to the Internet.

"We are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers," said Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive officer.

YouTube will continue to retain its brand, as well as all 67 employees, including co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen.

 

[Lila64]

I thought I saw something about that this morning

 

[Canadiens1131]

Enjoy all your copyrighted shit, folks, 'cause Google has so much cash they're going to get the shit sued out of them now by everybody.

The demise of Youtube is upon us.

 

[Tiger Edge]

The demise of Youtube is upon us.

 

[Sicy]

 

[Lila64]

 

[kellyahern]

 

[U2Girl1978]

 

[ntalwar]

Enjoy all your copyrighted shit, folks, 'cause Google has so much cash they're going to get the shit sued out of them now by everybody.

The demise of Youtube is upon us.

youtube already pulls videos if the copyright owner complains.
I've seen it done a few times. youtube is actually partnering with record and movie companies and networks to promote their new material.

On a side note - the three 20-something founders of youtube went from $0 to $1.6 billion in 18 months. That's my type of ideal career!

 

[Canadiens1131]

youtube already pulls videos if the copyright owner complains.
I've seen it done a few times. youtube is actually partnering with record and movie companies and networks to promote their new material.

Yes but the difference now is that Google has a shitload of money in the bank - which startup YouTube did not have. That makes them a huge target now for lawsuits from just about any copyright holder.

 

[Canadiens1131]

oogle is hosting a conference call and webcast to discuss the deal. My notes are below, and a recording of the call is here. You can also hear a replay of the call via telephone until midnight Monday, October 16 at 888-203-1112 domestically and 719-457-0820 internationally. Confirmation code for the replay is 2260624.

This went from rumor to reality incredibly fast.

My Notes from the call:

Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, Chad Hurley, YouTube’s CEO, David Drummond, Google’s General Counsel and others are on the call.

Eric is starting the call and immediately started talking about the content deals announced today. He says Chad Hurley and Steven Chen, YouTube’s founders, remind him of Larry and Sergey.

Chad is now talking about the reasons he agreed to be acquired by Google. He says Google’s ad platform will integrate perfectly into YouTube. Says the cultures are very similar.

Steven Chen is now talking, saying that Google’s platform combined with YouTube’s “innovative technology” is a perfect match.

Sergey say “Google’s mission is to organize the worlds information…and video is an important part of the worlds information”. Says Google’s core strength is search and advertising.

Questions just started. I’ve put myself in the queue to ask about the Fox/Myspace angle.

Mary Meeker at Morgan Stanley is first. Asking about YouTube content and how it will be integrated into Google. And how content will be monetized.

JP Morgan is asking about why all stock, and why buy YouTube when Google has its own video site. David Drummond says its a stock deal to make it tax free to YouTube shareholders. Eric says that YouTube was in a unique position and had a unique product offering that Google admired.

Question about YouTube’s new technology to auto-recognize copyrighted content.

Question about “pre-roll ads”. No real answer here. Saying they will look at all options.

Question about revenue shares given to content providers and how the company was valued. Not anwered - “we do not go into details on financial deals”. Eric is saying that deals are very good for partners. David Drummond says they arrived at a purchase price that is “very fair”.

Lots of questions on copyright issues.

ABC News question on integration between Google and YouTube. Steven Chen says they are working on a list of potential integration points, will take weeks to sort out. Sergey is saying that integration with search is going to be important, and that they will be experimenting. Eric is saying that Google Video is not going away.

Question about the bidding war for YouTube. No answer.

Great question about Chad’s statement this summer that YouTube plans to remain independent. Chad says that they will stay independent under this deal, so best of both worlds. No real way to answer this question.

That’s it. As usual with these type of calls, I wasn’t able to ask a question.

 

[ntalwar]

Yes but the difference now is that Google has a shitload of money in the bank - which startup YouTube did not have. That makes them a huge target now for lawsuits from just about any copyright holder.

I'm sure the investment bankers and lawyers advising Google thought that one through. NBC, CBS, and Warner Music have already signed deals with youtube that allow sharing ad revenue. These media companies have found that it's better to work with youtube than to fight them, as they have roughly 50% of the video views on the internet. There are probably a few kinks to work out with copyrighted material, but Google obviously saw a huge potential in this deal. I think I read somewhere that youtube will offer every music video ever made, with the cooperation of the record companies.

ETA: Google Video currently contains copyrighted content, but I haven't heard of lawsuits related to it.