Youtube gets pricey!

The advertisements on the sidebars have been there since soon after Google took over YouTube. After months of contemplating a way to monetize the service Google has started showing some content sensitive ads in the video window. Two scenarios that come to mind: users may be put off seeing the ads in the middle of the video viewport and could potentially seek other emerging Web2.0 (the concept not just design) based services like Vimeo. Second, what could be better than getting ads based on your product research, afterall it only gives you more leads.

What is of import here is whether this is only an experimental ad delivery method. News websites monetize their video services through ads served before and in-between news clips. Fortunately Google has been considerate about our bandwidths by not forcing data downloads.

An alternative revenue model could be charging major ISP’s commisions based on volume usage. However, this would require a substantive buy-in from ISP’s and could possible lead to the service’s demise. To circumvent change issues another approach could be to charge the users a premium for removing ads from their videos. This could work for those users who run “subscription based channels”. Commercial users could also be charged a premium to remove competitor ads from from their video pages altogether. Tactics like these could very well create a win-win situation for both Google and YouTube users.

Google Code: Re-inventing the wheel?

Its been seen across several web applications. Copycat applications spawn quickly following a leader and saturate the market. Could OpenSource code sharing be yet another realm to be conquered? SourceForge has been around since the heydays of open source community. I had a project there myself (which closed down soon after due to lack of motivation to continue). Google has come up with its own code sharing platform/application/system “Google Code” (not the most intuitive of names but then they tend to follow the KISS principle).

Correct me if I’m wrong but it started as a way for Google developers to manage code and projects which then extended into hosting “Summer of Code” projects and has more recently opened itself to the larger OS community. Would google acquire sourceforge if Google Code fails to make its mark, just like the YouTube episode or is this just one of those give-away community building projects?

The fight for building larger communities is already on amont Yahoo, Microsoft and Google. Would having the developer community on their side offer Google a significant advantage over rivals? Google Code is a breeding ground for breakthrough tech projects as it is, perhaps granting Google the innovative edge over competition.

Many questions, few answers … what do you think about this?