Update: Christopher Coulter just called this the “GooTube” merger. Heheh.
Wow, Google just sent me a press release that says it’s true. It has acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock (update: sorry for the typo, I said millions earlier). Here’s the press release — congrats to everyone involved, and thanks to Google’s PR department for getting all journalists and bloggers this info at the same time. Great improvement over last press release.
TechMeme is going crazy about this news.
Will this work out for Google? I think it will. First of all, it makes Google a more interesting company to watch. Second of all, it makes it very clear to advertisers that Google is in the video business big time. This has caught the attention of all the big media buyers at places like General Motors and Procter and Gamble. These folks spend billions on advertising.
Now, will Google get sued over and over? Probably. But if you think that matters then you are missing the point. Did Microsoft’s legal troubles slow down its cash generation machines? No. Neither will Google’s. Plus, Google has demonstrated it’s fairly adept at working out deals with folks who produce content, or own it. Yeah, they’ll probably lose a few battles in court, but that’s like losing a battle or two but winning the war.
I do note that Google’s stock is up. Yahoo and Microsoft’s are down.
Another angle? Google is getting over its initial engineering-driven arrogance. You know the kind. Where when you show engineers/geeks/developers something like YouTube they answer “we can build that in a few weeks.”
I heard that over and over again at Microsoft and my friends at Google say it a lot too. It’s called “not invented here” syndrome. The fact that someone told the Google Video folks to sit down and be quiet during this deal is pretty significant. That’s a sizeable change from previous times when Google was looking to acquire companies.
It also means that the price for new companies has just gone up dramatically and that the venture capital barn door is gonna totally unlock as investors chase down “flip to big company” deals. I’m not saying there will be another YouTube, but investors get ancy when they see other people making big bucks.
Update: My brother, Alex, just IM’ed me: “another missed opportunity for microsoft.” Exactly. What are those bean counters doing with all that money? I guess they want the entire advertising world to go to Google, huh?
Valuations on these dotcom businesses are getting scarey! You got myspace trying to get more money, Facebook only wants $1B+, and now YouTube. I feel the dotcom bubble beginning to grow, when will it burst, we don’t know.
Need idea for multi-billion dollar dotcom site…
…
Need idea for multi-billion dollar dotcom site…
…
Good point about how this will appeal to the big guns of advertising, Robert.
As a Michigan resident who has been following Google’s new AdWords facility in Ann Arbor, I can see how this deal will help deliver the 1000 jobs they are promising over the next five years.
http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/google-buys-youtube-and-1000-a2-adwords-jobs-make-more-sense-today/
Good point about how this will appeal to the big guns of advertising, Robert.
As a Michigan resident who has been following Google’s new AdWords facility in Ann Arbor, I can see how this deal will help deliver the 1000 jobs they are promising over the next five years.
http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/google-buys-youtube-and-1000-a2-adwords-jobs-make-more-sense-today/
[...] Ben posted a good link to Scobleizer’s article on this merger, here it is again. 0 Comments [...]
I am surprised that Microsoft missed the boat on this one. Is it just me or does Microsoft seem to be playing catch up with an increasingly growing number of tech players? Okay, I know it’s not just me.
I am surprised that Microsoft missed the boat on this one. Is it just me or does Microsoft seem to be playing catch up with an increasingly growing number of tech players? Okay, I know it’s not just me.
[...] Everyone’s talking about it, it’s all over the news, so you’ve probably heard all about it. [...]
[...] Reading with interest the flurry of posts about Google’s purchase of YouTube for around $1.6 billion, it seems the main worry right now is that since Google is a very rich company ($131 billion cap!), the lawsuits for copyright violations will start raining faster than you can say MPAA. Mark Cuban is particularly pessimistic about the business decision. [...]
Google Acquires Youtube – 10 Unanswered Questions
Congrats to Michael Arrington on breaking the rumor and upstaging all of the rest of the media and business press in this matter that became a reality very quickly. Frederick Marckini of iProspect stated that Youtube would be acquired for more than Mys…
Hi! Very nice site! Thanks you very much! J2MW7UlodY
Hi! Very nice site! Thanks you very much! J2MW7UlodY
Want to Save Google Videos to your hard drive to play later?
Download Google Videos
Want to Save Google Videos to your hard drive to play later?
Download Google Videos
I use http://www.savetube.com to save any youtube videos. They also got a latest saved section.
I use http://www.savetube.com to save any youtube videos. They also got a latest saved section.