June 30, 2008 64 Comments

YouTube is Losing Hundreds of Millions a Month

Think about this, oh followers of the Cult of Chad: where do YOU go to remember old TV clips, to find out what your favorite bands from high school and college sound like these days, the trailer for that new movie? YouTube, right? It’s easy. It’s right there. Powerful search, billions of videos, and nothing too tricky to watching one. And yet, I think they’re missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars a month. Here’s how.

Affiliate Sales

I went searching for the mashup David Usher’s Kill the Lights single mixed with the new Batman Dark Knight movie trailer. (By the way, Google threw out a Mitch Joel link before even YouTube – good Google juice, Mitch!) I wanted to watch this:

(Go on, watch it. I’ll wait.)

Now, what should come next? I’ll tell you what: YouTube should have a sidebar to that video (legality questions aside) that says, “Why not buy David Usher’s new album?” with an easy click to an Amazon store or whatever. And what else? “Why not pre-order the Batman DVD?” Why not? I’m already turned on by the song and the video. I’m already hopped up, and it’s like free marketing for two products that didn’t spend a dime to get me excited!

There are lots of ways this makes sense. It’s right there: market, interest, pre-selection.

Okay, YouTube: ready, steady, go! Go make money. I’ll be here watching more weird Batman things:

(What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea?)

Related posts:

  1. I Take it Back – YouTube has a Purpose
  2. The Value of YouTube
  3. One Month Later
  4. YouTube Marketing 2- Kodak
  5. Superhero Birthday Party- YouTube

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  • http://chrisbrogan.com chrisbrogan

    @Mike – great point. I can see this mucking with their adsense dollars. Hmmm.

  • http://chrisbrogan.com chrisbrogan

    @Mike – great point. I can see this mucking with their adsense dollars. Hmmm.

  • http://tinkutales.blogspot.com Amrita

    Chris,

    I wouldn’t like YouTube to have those kinds of ads unless they were done the way iTunes lists what other viewers bought/listened to. I like that iTunes doesn’t use a robot to pretend it is having a conversation with you — i.e. Hi, I noticed you like X, how about buying Y.

    I would prefer if YouTube and many others, just kept it simple.

    –Amrita

  • http://tinkutales.blogspot.com Amrita

    Chris,

    I wouldn’t like YouTube to have those kinds of ads unless they were done the way iTunes lists what other viewers bought/listened to. I like that iTunes doesn’t use a robot to pretend it is having a conversation with you — i.e. Hi, I noticed you like X, how about buying Y.

    I would prefer if YouTube and many others, just kept it simple.

    –Amrita

  • http://someaudioguy.blogspot.com SomeAudioGuy

    I wonder if Amazon would really be keen on this idea, as they’re trying to use their own video units through the affiliate program.

    I guess anything that increases sales right?

  • http://someaudioguy.blogspot.com SomeAudioGuy

    I wonder if Amazon would really be keen on this idea, as they’re trying to use their own video units through the affiliate program.

    I guess anything that increases sales right?

  • http://www.passitonplates.com Pam Hawk

    Brilliant. Surprised they aren’t already doing it.

    It took Eggo waffles a long long time to come up with syrup, maybe YouTube will catch on eventually.

  • http://www.passitonplates.com Pam Hawk

    Brilliant. Surprised they aren’t already doing it.

    It took Eggo waffles a long long time to come up with syrup, maybe YouTube will catch on eventually.

  • http://www.themurr.com/ David Murray

    Yep – YouTube is loosing cash but I don’t think they are built to make money.

    I don’t go to YouTube to buy things – the two examples you presented (though good in their own right)did nothing to excite me about the upcoming Dark Knight film – my attentions span lasted all about 20 seconds.

    Going to a library – or when I went to the library – I didn’t expect to find ads in the books I read. Same for YouTube, I enjoy their library (free resource) of videos.

    So I don’t know how they would go about raking in the dough. I wouldn’t mind if they had a separate link to a YouTube mall – that sold niche related items (video cameras, equipment, books, movie gift certificates, etc).

    Maybe that’s how they can make some money??

  • https://twitter.com/DaveMurr DaveMurr

    Yep – YouTube is loosing cash but I don’t think they are built to make money.

    I don’t go to YouTube to buy things – the two examples you presented (though good in their own right)did nothing to excite me about the upcoming Dark Knight film – my attentions span lasted all about 20 seconds.

    Going to a library – or when I went to the library – I didn’t expect to find ads in the books I read. Same for YouTube, I enjoy their library (free resource) of videos.

    So I don’t know how they would go about raking in the dough. I wouldn’t mind if they had a separate link to a YouTube mall – that sold niche related items (video cameras, equipment, books, movie gift certificates, etc).

    Maybe that’s how they can make some money??

  • http://ice-age-3-trailer-movie.blogspot.com/ Jackie

    thanks for the sharing video.really you know this job.
    by the way i loved your blog..

  • http://ice-age-3-trailer-movie.blogspot.com/ Jackie

    thanks for the sharing video.really you know this job.
    by the way i loved your blog..

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  • http://www.savetubevideo.com youtube downloader

    I’m already hopped up, and it’s like free marketing for two products that didn’t spend a dime to get me excited!

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