Google to Buy YouTube?

Is the Dot-Com Boom Back?

http://news.com.com/Google+said+to+set+sights+on+YouTube/2100-1030_3-6123732.html?tag=nefd.top
from WinCustomize Forums

Late last week, the rumors began to fly that Google was thinking about buying Internet video site, YouTube for the princely sum of $1.6 Billion.  Well, the New York Times went and confirmed the rumors on Friday after talking with several people close to the deal.  It is stressed that the deal is in the very early stages at the moment and nothing is definite.

Google is just the latest in a parade of companies to visit and chat with YouTube in recent months.  This is just the latest in the frenzied buy-up of promising Internet startups, started by the Fox acquisition of MySpace last year, and is reminiscent of the Dot-Com boom of the late 90s.

If Google were to acquire YouTube, it would likely supplant their own video service, Google Video, which has not seen the degree of success the company had originally hoped for.  Integration of a successful video community site would open up new possibilities for the company in the area of cross-marketing and advertising.  At this point, all Google needs is a successful social networking site (Orkut was another relative flop) to essentially turn themselves into a one-stop-shop for all your Internet needs.

Is this recent frenzy to buy start-ups the sign of a new boom/bust?  Or is it a little bit more reasonable this time around?

10/9/06, 5:40pm -

UPDATE: It appears that Google IS buying YouTube, the news comes from CNN Money saying the deal was struck today.  Google claims that despite the acquisition, YouTube will operate as a separate entity.

Article: http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/09/technology/googleyoutube_deal/index.htm?cnn=yes

2,384 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I never understood why these types of deals are worth billions of dollars. Sure, YouTube is nice, but not worth $1.6B, in my opinion. And with Google's video.google.com site [which I tend to prefer over YouTube anyway], the purchase appears principally to be a buy-out of competition, or at least a 'forced' way of getting YouTube devotees to use Google's system.

But hey, if the YouTube pioneers can get rich out of this, more power to them. Maybe they'll spring back one day with something better.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It's funny, just last week I was telling a friend of mine that youtube and google should merge 'cause I keep getting confused about where I saw "that cool video you just gotta check out", was youtube or google video.

Personally I'm all for this deal. YouTube has the community and the tech (favorite videos, related videos, subscriptions - google video doesn't have those), google on the other hand has the searching, integration into a larger network, plus the capital. I do hope that google uses youtube as basis for the videos, not the other way around.
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Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The price is calculated by how much revenue it takes in with advertising, and will take in. Since the youtube.com domain is now widely known, the name alone has worth.

I think it's getting annoying how the top websites are now owned by the giant dot coms. I used to think it wasn't possible to own the internet, but it's starting to look like that's what's happening now.