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Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion

I'm sure everyone knows by now about quite possibly the most expensive acquisition in history. Unfazed by the possibility of copyright infringement cases and lack of profitability, Google agrees to pay $1.65 billion for the mega-hit video-sharing site, YouTube.

Now.. what does this mean? Well, it looks like Google is getting serious about marketing to people online rather than offline. It helps that YouTube has secured agreements with major media companies in efforts to show its commitment to copyright protection.

This also puts some pressure as Yahoo! as the company is perceived to be out-innovated and out-classed by Google. Yahoo! is currently trying to acquire Facebook, another popular social networking site targeted towards high school and college students. However, both Yahoo! and Facebook remain successful in niche markets while Google and YouTube are global household names.

Although Google's acquisition may entice companies to buy second-tier and smaller social networking startups, these new deals may lead to huge failures. After all, social networking sites come and go like fashion trends. There is even a resounding movement that MySpace is not cool anymore. One can see that as rival sites such as bebo and Cyworld are taking over their respective regional markets in UK and South Korea.

posted by Koh @ 9:45 PM