GooTube for Real
Posted by: Rob Hof on October 09
Not surprisingly, Google has indeed bought video sharing phenom YouTube. Although a lot of people, like Mark Cuban, thought it was a bad idea, the deal’s done. It is quite a departure for Google, the $1.65 billion purchase price being more than all its other acquisitions put together. But if Google can work through the issues of how best to place ads and can mollify commercial video rights-holders—and some people, such as Paul Kedrosky, are betting it will—the deal may end up looking pretty smart before long. I always thought that 100 million-plus video viewings a day can’t help but produce revenue at some point. And while I’m less sure about what this says about Google’s presumed ability to create whatever it wants internally and make a success out of it, investors apparently aren’t worried. The stock rose 2% today, no doubt in anticipation of the deal.
