That Buck guy is the most annoying thing I've ever seen. The fact that so many people watch his videos make me scared for America. Are these the same people that read Perez Hilton and National Enquirer?
Such main stream articles are a bit like main stream articles talking about huge profits made from iPhone apps, namely, they encourage Joe Sixpack to think that he too can make big money on YouTube(iPhone, etc.). Truth is that for most people, if they only do it for making money, they will fail miserably. Even if they sincerely enjoy what they are doing, the chances of achieving meaningful profits are slim.
This is basically the future of content. DVDs are dead, TV is dying. The web, with its possibilities for targeted advertising has a lot more potential - the big media companies are afraid of it, but if they don't do it now, smaller and nimbler startups are going to take their place.
So it's true. Focussing on growth rather than on a business plan is a good idea.
How long before Google makes back their investment?
With $1-6 CPM on a video that has been seen over 1-100 million times--not very long. I'm excited that YouTube is finally effectively monetizing. This is the future. Specially now that content can be uploaded in 1280x720 HD, there is no limits to what YouTube can do. I can't wait to see where we are in 4 years, or even 1.