Google buys YouTube

A recent story on CBC's website shows that Google has purchased YouTube, the popular video hosting service, for a whopping $1.65 billion US. Is it just me or does this sound like a lot of money to buy such a small company that has not shown any profitability yet? Hmmm...Interesting. I've written about the potentially interesting pedagogical aspects of video file sharing services like Google Video and YouTube on this blog before. Obviously, the executives at Google also think YouTube has a huge upside. Will Google Video swallow YouTube? Or with they keep the widely publicized "YouTube" name? Stay tuned on what they do with YouTube and Google Video, and how they turn these video file sharing services into a money maker.

Hint: Yesterday YouTube stated it has recently signed deals with CBS, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment to distribute video content online. It signed a similar deal with Warner Music Group last month.

Add Post To: