YouTube to share the wealth with users

By Adam Turner
Sunday, 28 January 2007 20:41

Home IT

Video sharing site YouTube is set to share its revenues with its millions of users, turning their 15 minutes of fame into cold, hard cash.

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley said the company was preparing to share with users the advertising revenues generated by the sites' 70 million video views per day.

"We are getting an audience large enough where we have an opportunity to support creativity, to foster creativity through sharing revenue with our users," Hurley said. "So in the coming months, we are going to be opening that up."

Hurley provided no details as to how the revenue sharing would work, but one option would be a GoogleAds-like system considering Google acquired YouTube for US$1.65 billion last year.

A revenue sharing model would put even greater pressure on YouTube to stop users uploading copyrighted materials, with the Fox network currently demanding YouTube hand over details of the user who posted unbroadcast episodes of the hit TV series 24 and The Simpsons.