Google acquires video site YouTube for $1.65 billion #Four
This entry was posted on 10/10/2006 4:12 PM and is filed under Technology '06 - 02.
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By AmericasNewsToday.Org staff
Google Inc. said on Monday it agreed to acquire video site YouTube for $1.65 billion, the highest price yet paid for a consumer-generated media site.
The first deal to value one of the new generation of user-participation Web sites at more than $1 billion combines two of the most popular Internet brands: Google, synonymous with Web search, and YouTube, a Silicon Valley upstart that has spearheaded the video-sharing craze.
YouTube, which grew in 20 months from a start-up in a garage to now serve up 100 million videos daily, has drawn scrutiny from major media companies for copyrighted television and music videos that users post without owner consent.
While YouTube said on Monday it had signed a spate of distribution agreements with major record labels, some analysts caution Google could still be inviting lawsuits with this acquisition.
Analysts said the deal would thrust Google quickly into the emerging market for video advertising, where it has only a tiny foothold compared with Yahoo Inc. and start-ups
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Additional reporting by 'On The Money,' Reuters.
