YouTube has Movies?

I found some interesting news on YouTube the other day, and seeing that it has become more of an outlet to personal videos and comedic clips, rather than actual TV or movie content, this was pretty interesting. Apparently, YouTube has a new agreement with MGM to air a variety of full-length movies and TV shows on the site for free. I find this interesting as You Tube has in recent months lost share to other sites like Hulu, that provide full length content and also offer a platform for Internet advertising.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/media/10mgm.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

YouTube is a very interesting company because it is unclear where their source of revenue is, if there is any at all. On the YouTube company information section, it states that "YouTube has struck numerous partnership deals with content providers such as CBS, BBC, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, NBA, The Sundance Channel and many more."
http://www.youtube.com/t/about. However, it is unclear if there is any financial exchange involved in these partnerships.

Hulu, which may be YouTube's biggest competitor as of late (speculation), has a different approach to offering television and movie content, through:

"Advertising: Hulu gives advertisers an opportunity to associate their brands with premium online video content, connect with highly engaged consumers and extend their reach beyond Hulu.com to Hulu's distribution network. Additionally, Hulu offers and is committed to the continued development of innovative, new advertising experiences."
http://www.hulu.com/about

With the revenue created through advertising sales at Hulu, the site is able to provide higher quality content to viewers at the same cost as YouTube (nothing), and without the personal video content, seems a cleaner and easier to use site.

I wonder if You tube's attempt to air full length films etc. from MGM is the first stage in transforming into a more Hulu like site?

Learned tons about Internet Marketing/Advertising today

So, I just spent about six hours learning about the technical aspects of Internet marketing/advertising and how Publishers (of the sites) can sell ad space to make money.

We started with the basics, Standard ad units: Skyscrapers (160x600 pixels), Leader board/banner ads (728x90) and Rectangle (300x250). We then got into the more customized complex ads: Video, rich media (any ad that lives beyond the physical boundaries of a standard ad unit) and discussed the companies that make them possible such as Point Roll and Ad Blaster.

Similarly to broadcast measurement, Digital measures impressions through a third party, either Nielsen Net Ratings or Com Score media metrics.

Some additional terms we discussed:

CTR - Click through rate - clicks/impressions (click counted when user clicks an ad)

CPA - Cost per acquisition - revenue/ (impressions/1000)

Companion Ad - standard graphic ad unit shown in tandem with video

Overlay - runs on top of video while it is playing

We discussed so much information, it is hard to compile into a simple entry. There are some really helpful links for the Internet marketer that help explain how all of this digital ad sales stuff works:

www.clickz.com
www.mediapost.com
www.admonsters.org
www.iab.net
www.imediaconnection.com
www.marketingvox.com
www.mediabistro.com

The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) - helps to regulate and define terms used in digital advertising and media. The whole idea of selling online advertising space is changing so much everyday, there is little standardization and regulation, but this is an organize that does do so. As a publisher, on the sales side, www.imediaconection.com was recommended. Happy learning!