It’s hardly news that Google is desperately trying to turn YouTube in to a money-making venture rather than the high-traffic, low-revenue property it currently is. But are the latest two monetization methods a step too far?

We’ve been keeping a watchful eye on the many and varied ways in which YouTube is being monetized here on WebTVWire, and the past few months have seen a lot of effort being put in to the site.

Monetization Efforts

We’ve seen pre-roll and post-roll adverts introduced, the YouTube homepage filled with banner ads, and a variety of different deals with media companies to improve both content and profits.

These include CBS, MGM, Lionsgate, and independent producers. Then there are the new ‘click to buy’ adverts being added to music videos and the like.

In the last few days, Google has announced two new methods for monetizing YouTube: Sponsored video search results, and overlay adverts on embedded partner videos.

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MGM and YouTube have announced a historic deal to bring movies to YouTube. But content is still clearly an issue, with the first offerings being pretty damn useless.

MGM Studios has become the first major Hollywood company to sign on the dotted line and do a deal with YouTube which will see full-length movies and episodes of television shows broadcast on the site.

YouTube In Bed With Hollywood

Rumors started to spread a few days ago about YouTube trying to tempt Hollywood studios in to doing deals which would see the video-sharing site further evolve from the short-form content it’s famous for.

And while the news that MGM Studios has become the first such Hollywood giant to agree to the deal, the content being initially offered leaves a lot to be desired.

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Google has been attempting to evolve YouTube in to a money-making domain for months, but the latest effort, which will see full-length feature films on the site, must be the biggest step so far.

Googe Maximizing YouTube’s Potential

Anyone who reads WebTVWire regularly will know that the last few months have been dominated by Google’s efforts to maximize YouTube’s potential and turn the impressive viewing figures in to equally impressive levels of profit.

It’s not like YouTube isn’t already making money, it is, but the figures don’t justify the $1.65 billion Google paid for the world’s favorite and most well known video sharing site. They also don’t stack up when compared to Hulu’s profits, even though that company is much younger and has much less traffic.

Evolving Efforts

First of all, post-roll adverts launched on YouTube, closely followed by pre-rolls. Then the YouTube homepage had huge banner ads added, which should bring in some much needed revenue.

Then Google started making deals with other companies. The ‘YouTube Screening Room‘ made its debut, which sees independent films finding a home on YouTube. Lionsgate also decided to team up with the site but only short clips of movies would be included on YouTube.

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Hulu is celebrating its first 12 months in operation, and a successful year it has been. But will that success continue? And if so, what is the ultimate future for Hulu?

Hulu’s First Year

Hulu launched this time last year in beta to a positive yet subdued reaction. The people in the business were excited but no-one outside of the Web video bubble really gave two hoots.

But that’s slowly and surely changed, with word of mouth (there’s been no formal advertising) seeing the NBC and Fox owned service gaining massively in an already crowded online video sector over the past 12 months.

The first anniversary of the site’s arrival also brought with it high profile articles in The New York Times and USA Today, both of which are very positive about the venture.

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MTV Music is a new website from MTV wholly dedicated to music videos. But will this Hulu for music be able to compete with the many destinations already on the Web for music video lovers?

From MTV To RealityTV

MTV was once a channel dedicated to music videos, hence the name. But recent years have seen this completely change, with the group of channels now much more likely to show reality or lifestyle programming.

Personally, I’m not a fan of this change, much preferring the MTV of old where there was wall-to-wall music videos from night until noon and not an episode of The Hills or The Real World anywhere in sight.

MTV Music

Luckily for me and other fans of the old-style channel, MTV has recently launched MTV Music, a website dedicated just to music videos, all of which are on demand, and free to watch.

The site has launched with both old and new videos available to watch, all of which can also be embedded to websites, blogs, and social networks. There’s also the chance to comment and rate each video.

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Web video is growing at a phenomenal rate, but until television and media companies realise that the Web is global and allows people in all countries to watch their content, it surely can’t succeed.

Territorial Licensing

I’ve touched on this subject a couple of times before: when NBC Direct launched, only for US citizens; and when The Daily Show went online, only for US citizens. As a Brit, this is obviously a problem.

Territorial licensing has once again reared its ugly head by stopping me watching any of the new full-length shows or movies that YouTube has started offering.

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YouTube is evolving. It seems like not a day goes by when a new feature or revenue stream is added to the site. All of which is good for us, the viewers, but bad for the competition.

While YouTube has never really had a strong and comprehensive revenue model in place, it has always succeeded at one thing: drawing in the audience. Ask anyone about video on the Internet and you’ll only get one response.

YouTube Evolution

The last few months have seen post-roll adverts making their début, banner adverts on the YouTube homepage becoming standard, partnerships with various media companies, The ‘YouTube Screening Room’ being announced, and a whole host of other ventures.

The most recent was just a couple of days ago when YouTube started offering ‘Click To Buy’ affiliates on content such as music videos and clips of video games being played.

CBS Partnership

And now YouTube has done it again, this time partnering with CBS, a long-time channel owner on the site, to offer full-length episodes of various shows. This puts YouTube in direct competition with the likes of Hulu and Joost.

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