With so many viewers utilizing YouTube and refusing to accept ads, Google looks like it's going to take steps to remedy that situation by offering pre- or post-roll ads on the site.
Some seemed to get confused and angry when Google announced this, but to me it's obvious what they're doing.
Here's what I think they're up to:
There's a couple reasons Google would be willing to include pre- or post-rolls. One, is they're trying to gravitate more toward people viewing videos on the TV platform, which has socialized people for decades to put up with commercials. If they can accomplish that in any meaningful way, people would be more willing to view ads without the fuss.
The second reason, although Google would never admit it, is they're probably tired of the freeloaders using the site without offering anything back.
If there isn't a significant way to monetize the site, pressure will eventually come from shareholders to do it or get rid of the property. U.S. law requires a public company to make decisions based on what's best for the shareholders, and executives must respond accordingly.
Assuming they aren't able to figure out a way to do it, pressure similar to what's being put on Time Warner concerning AOL is inevitable; especially if the Google stock ends up dropping in another big way.
As far as the users of YouTube go, putting up pre-rolls would get rid of a lot of the dead weight that sits around always wanting something for nothing. That may even be part of the Google strategy in order to cut back on costs.
One way or the other, Google will have to monetize the site. They'll just have to be willing to lose some viewers in exchange for that reality.
Even if they do, it makes no difference. What other online business wants people to add to their costs without a way to make money on them? Eventually the users that leave would come back, because competitors would make a similar move in order to offset costs. It's called running a business.
It does show how much it costs to keep a site like YouTube running, as the company will evidently generate $200 million in revenue this year, while still incurring significant losses.
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