Chad Hurley, the CEO of YouTube, has announced that YouTube will be sharing ad revenue with content producers in the near future. In a video captured at the World Economic Forum, Hurley went on to explain that they wanted to first create a community, then generate revenue for content creators. They plan on rolling out the new features in the next couple of months.
Cutting content creators in on profits isn’t a new game, especially in the online video arena. Scott Kirsner, the editor for Cinematech, has put together a great guide to monetizing web video.
The best place to see many of these techniques in action are web shows. Rocketboom, ZeFrank’s the Show, and Ask a Ninja are among the most popular shows on the Internet and they’re all profitable, but it wasn’t always that way. They’ve all had to pioneer new ways to generate revenue in unproven markets. Rocketboom shoots custom ads for big clients. ZeFrank and Ask a Ninja take donations from their viewers and in return let them put little messages under the next days show.
YouTube’s revenue sharing will make it easier for smaller shows to reach profitability and thus entice even more people to get started. I can’t wait to see the next generation.
- chris
