Now it's a
surprise to heard that Google recently confirmed that YouTube now receives more
than 4 billion video views per day. Reuters reported the news Monday morning and
noted that the site has seen a 25% increase in videos viewed per day since May.
The jump in video views comes as Google pushes YouTube beyond the personal
computer, with versions of the site that work on smartphones and televisions,
and as the company steps up efforts to offer more professional-grade content on
the site. Google, which owns YouTube, also confirmed that there are more than 60
hours of fresh video uploaded each minute, up from the 48 hours of video added
per minute in May. Advertisements on videos generate roughly $5 billion in
revenue each year, Reuters said, but just 3 billion videos feature ads each
week. The growth in viewership was attributed to users accessing the service
from smartphones and televisions.
Further YouTube,
which Google acquired for $1.65 billion in 2006, represents one of Google's key
opportunities to generate new sources of revenue outside its traditional
Internet search advertising business. Last week, Google said that its business
running graphical "display" ads - many of which are integrated alongside YouTube
videos - was generating $5 billion in revenue on an annualized run rate basis.
Still, most of the 4 billion videos that YouTube now streams worldwide every day
do not make money. Three billion YouTube videos a week are monetized, according
to the company. YouTube recently redesigned its website to more prominently
showcase specialized "channels" organized around different types of content. In
October, YouTube announced that it had struck 100 original video programming
deals with media partners including Madonna and Jay-Z. Thomson Reuters and
YouTube recently announced a partnership to create a Reuters TV channel for the
website.