YouTube isn't profitable | Hacker News Reader

YouTube isn't profitable

wsj.com

26 pointsIBM11 comments

Top link on Google: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=YouTube...

For some reason, it's not working in my browser. Possibly NoScript or something? Well here is my workaround for anyone having the same problem.

Click the first result at http://www.bing.com/search?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farti...

For me, this is the interesting quote:

That is a problem still facing veteran Google executive Susan Wojcicki as she begins her second year running YouTube, one that could be tougher to solve if declining profit margins for Google overall limit her ability to invest in new content and services.

As the air slowly seeps out of the search advertising business it makes it harder and harder for Google to keep non-profitable businesses alive.

This is actually good news for Google. Their current YouTube ad revenues are paying for all the fixed costs right now. Any additional ad revenues for YouTube from now on will go directly to the bottom line as profit without further operational expenses.

I think we'll be seeing expanding margins for Google this year. Maybe good time to load up on GOOG while analysts are disappointed at recent earnings.

I'm not sure I agree. If YouTube is publicly seen to turn a profit, it's more likely to create a feeding frenzy by copyright-owners than it is to pad the bottom line.

Surprising that it's not profitable. It's still probably better than having lost a major chunk of internet traffic to another player, like they did with social networking and real-time info (i.e. Twitter).

So basically, the monetization methods (skippable ads and subscriptions) are working well, Youtube just needs more people watching consistently?

>Google Inc. nurtured YouTube into a cultural phenomenon

What? No.

Youtube was huge before Google bought it. They bought it because they couldn't compete with it. I'd even go as far as to say that youtube kept growing despite Google's meddling, not because of it.

Didn't read the rest of the article because, as others have remarked, it's paywalled. But that's not a good first impression.

Paywalled, does anyone have an alternate or can provide a summary?

yeah, check the downvoted link I posted below.

Paywalled.

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