It’s widely believed that YouTube has yet to make a profit. But 2010 could see it making money for the first time in its history thanks to clever advertising and improved relationships with copyright owners.

YouTube

YouTube is now five years old, and has enjoyed quite a history in that short space of time.

It was approaching profitability before Google swooped into acquire the site for $1.65 billion, and the search giant has focused its attention on setting the site on a new path with longterm goals in mind rather than chasing short term profits.

Those longterm goals may be about to pay off as an improved advertising setup combines with an increasing userbase to put the site in the black for the first time.

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Google is reportedly in talks with the major Hollywood movie studios in order to secure content for its video rentals store. With Google TV on its way, this could bring Google in direct head-to-head battle with Apple and its new Apple iTV.

YouTube Video Rentals

YouTube has been offering video rentals since the beginning of the year, with offerings from the Sundance Film Festival the first to go live. The trial was deemed a success, and YouTube then opened the store for business on a permanent basis.

In May, YouTube began forging ahead with its plans to increase its video rental offerings, with content partners given the opportunity to sell their professionally-produced content.

Now, Google has even bigger plans.

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YouTube is responsible for making some people very wealthy, or at least giving them the means to give up their day job. But how easy would it be to join the select band who make over $100,000 a year from their videos?

YouTube Fame

YouTube has made many people famous over the years since its launch. Some have been unwilling stars made famous by someone else uploading a video clip of them doing something which has spread across the Web. While others have made names for themselves by seizing an opportunity.

However, not all of these YouTube stars have actually made any money out of it. In fact, most probably haven’t seen a penny. But there are a select band of people making serious money from the videos they upload to YouTube.

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Google TV could be a big step in getting online video into the living room and into the mainstream. And the early signs suggest Google is creating a great platform as its starting point. The only problem looks to be content, with Hollywood and the big TV studios failing to climb on board.

Google TV

After months of rumors, Google finally unveiled its plans to bring online video into the living room by announcing Google TV at Google I/O in May.

Google TV is a Web TV platform that will be integrated into Sony TVs and Blu-ray players, and have its own set-top box from Logitech to boot. Best Buy will be selling these devices, with a vague Fall launch date currently set.

The Google TV interface has now been revealed, but as great as it looks, potential content partners are reported to be dubious about the whole enterprise. And without content, Google TV will be doomed to fail.

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Can this actually be classed as news? Let’s face it, Viacom was always going to appeal the decision in the YouTube copyright infringement lawsuit which ended in June. Because it lost. And that’s not right, surely.

A Brief History Lesson

Viacom first realized it had a serious problem with YouTube in 2005, even before Google acquired the site for $1.65 billion. But it didn’t take serious action until that deal went through.

In March 2007, Viacom launched a lawsuit worth $1 billion, with this incredible figure arrived at due to the 63,000 alleged instances of copyright infringement.

It then took three years for the two sides to build their cases, with everything coming to a head in June of this year when Google’s motion for summary judgment in its favor was granted.

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I don’t think I’ll ever buy a 3DTV, certainly not until the need to wear glasses all the time is removed. However, I’m very interested in a TV which connects to the Internet. And it seems I’m not alone.

3DTV

3D has taken over Hollywood recently, with every other film released having a 3D after its name, and 3D elements added. Some films have worked well in 3D, such as Avatar, but others really haven’t made the grade. And now we’re expected to adopt 3D for the home as well.

With the world having adopted HDTV pretty conclusively by now, tech manufacturers are keen to push the next big thing. Which many companies, such as Sony and Toshiba, gambling heavily that 3D televisions will be the next big mainstream consumer trend.

But wait. It looks as though the real future lies in Internet TV.

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Big changes afoot at YouTube with the upload limit being increased from 10 to 15 minutes. This has been made possible due to YouTube’s confidence in its Content ID system controlling the flow of copyrighted content.

YouTube Upload Limits

When YouTube first launched there were no upload limits, with videos of all sizes and lengths allowed on to the site. Then again, this was at the time when YouTube was a lawless Wild West-type place, before Google acquired the site and set about cleaning it up.

A 10-minute upload limit was introduced quickly when YouTube realized it meant full movies and TV shows were being posted. Some people, the clever ones, got around the limit by splitting videos into multiple 10-minute clips.

YouTube then put a Content ID system in place which recognizes the fingerprints of copyrighted material and flags it immediately.

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