VideoYouTube will Move Right Along as Though Nothing had Happened

YouTube will Move Right Along as Though Nothing had Happened

On Friday, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley stepped down as the company’s CEO. What impact will this have on YouTube and video marketing?

Chad Hurley.jpg Frankly, it won’t have much impact at all.

As Richard Waters of the Financial Times reported on Friday, Hurley conceded that his influence at the company had already waned, saying in a statement, “For the past two years, I’ve taken on more of an advisory role at YouTube as Salar Kamangar has led the company’s day-to-day operations.”

This reminds me of the lines by Carl Sandburg in “The People, Yes.”

A woman asks the captain of a ship, “Is that an iceberg on the horizon?”

The captain says, “Yes, it is.”

The woman asks, “What if we get in a collision with it?”

And the captain answers, “The iceberg, Madam, will move right along as though nothing had happened.”

Founded in February 2005, YouTube is the world’s most popular online video community.

According to comScore Video Metrix, about 144 million Americans visited YouTube.com in September 2010. Since 70 percent of YouTube’s traffic comes from outside the U.S., this means about 480 million people worldwide visit YouTube each month.

If it were a country, YouTube Nation would rank #3 — behind China and India, but ahead of the United States and Indonesia.

YouTube says that 24 hours of new videos are uploaded to the site every minute, and that around three quarters of the material comes from outside the United States. In other words, more new video content is uploaded to YouTube in 30 days than ABC, CBS and NBC have broadcast in the past 30 years.

So, YouTube has achieved “critical mass.” It will move right along — even though Hurley is moving right along, too.

But what about video marketing? Will Kamangar make any changes that impact YouTube Partners and Sponsors?

Before becoming YouTube Vice President of Product Management, Kamangar was Vice President of Google’s Web Applications, including Gmail, Talk, Calendar, Reader, orkut, Blogger, Picasa, Video, Docs, Spreadsheets, Presentations and Checkout.

Before that, he was Vice President of Product Management for Google’s advertising and monetisation products, including the AdWords program, which he defined with a small engineering team. Today, AdWords is the foundation for Google’s syndication on partner sites and serves as the engine that drives Google’s revenue.

Prior to that, Kamangar created the company’s first business plan and was responsible for its legal and finance functions. From there, he became a founding member of Google’s product team, where he worked on consumer projects including the acquisition of DejaNews and the subsequent launch of Google Groups.

Kamangar earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences with honours from Stanford University.

So, no, I don’t think Hurley’s replacement by Kamangar will have any negative impact on video marketing. It will move right along as though nothing had happened.

Or, to be clear, video marketing will continue to change at the same rapid pace that it’s been changing over the past several years.

Yesterday, the YouTube Blog announced a more efficient 3D player that’s much faster than the previous player, especially for HD resolution. The day before that, YouTube launched Demo Slam, which turn boring, old tech demos into entertaining, exciting ones.

And the day before that, YouTube announced its yellow subscribe button had been clicked over one billion times. On the same day, YouTube announced that Promoted Videos had hit half a billion views.

So, moving right along means “moving” at the same rapid pace.

To get a sense of that, check out the video below which was uploaded May 14, 2010, when YouTube turned five years old.


YouTube Turns Five!

Yep, what started as a site for bedroom vloggers and viral videos has evolved into a global platform that supports HD and 3D, broadcasts entire sports seasons live to 200+ countries. YouTube brings feature films from Hollywood studios and independent filmmakers to far-flung audiences. Activists document social unrest seeking to transform societies, and leading civic and political figures stream interviews to the world.

Not bad for a five year old. Not bad at all.

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