Hacker News Reader

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.

View on HN

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.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com