Google buys YouTube and will let it run independently after acquisition

video, search engines, finance — by TDavid @ 10:38 pm PST

GOOG Stock: Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion

I’ve intentionally stayed out of the rumor mill on the whole Google to buy YouTube discussion, but now that it’s official I’m starting to think through the pros and cons.

High up on the pro list will be adding the Google video permalink capability and archiving for all those videos. The con list includes the flaming copyright infringement cleanup duties. Also, the press release clearly indicates that “Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.” This is big.

So they’ve paid $1.65 billion in stock and intend to keep YouTube running as a separate entity? Will be interesting to see how long that lasts and just how it independent it really translates. It’s obvious that Adsense will be all over YouTube before the ink is dry on the deal. Yahoo hasn’t touched del.icio.us yet, but there are social media rumblings afoot there.

The Google press release explains:

The acquisition combines one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment communities with Google’s expertise in organizing information and creating new models for advertising on the Internet. The combined companies will focus on providing a better, more comprehensive experience for users interested in uploading, watching and sharing videos, and will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new audience.

For what it’s worth I believed YouTube would meet a similar fate as the original Napster. Now that Google has bought YouTube it has put a gigantic bullseye on Google’s back. One thing is certain, Google sure has mammoth family jewels. They aren’t afraid to go to court over what they think and feel is right. Having the #1 video site in their back pocket will go a long way to helping them better archive the world’s information. It also makes them a little more publisher and a little less search engine. I think it will be at least 6-9 months before we can say if this acquisition a good or bad thing.

Whatever this acquisition ultimately means, I’m more optimistic about Google doing good things with YouTube than eBay has done with Skype. Techmeme is brimming with commentary on the acquisition and so is my reading list, but I’ll have to wait until tomorrow when the three day weekend is officially over to dig in. If you have an interesting take on all this, feel free to let me know about it below.

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