Google Spending $100 Million in Online War for Viewers’ Hearts
On the Web victory is counted by a single metric: visitor numbers. You may have the best functioning website property on the globe but if you do not have the visitor numbers it takes to make it a hot Web property, then you are nowhere.
Google knows this better than anyone else, which is why it is already busy squaring up against rivals for the coming eyeballs war. With faster connection speeds, better online streaming technologies and more multi-media devices than ever before, Google is busy throwing money at YouTube in order to encourage the creation of unique content for it.
YouTube was founded upon amateur videos and it has become one of the most visited properties on the web. But that is not enough. As study after study reveals that online users spend more time on the Web than they spend watching TV and how many like the interactivity and seamless integration of both services Google knows that if it is to beat rival Netflix it needs to become a destination of choice for the discovery of more than the next amateur viral video.
This is where its $100 million war kit comes in. With money in the kitty ready to be offered to finance low-budget professional content Google is winning on more than one front. First it gets to have unique content, something YouTube is not that hot on right now. Second, it gets to help small, independent talent, which struggles to be taken seriously and get funding. Third, it wins the impression war on Google being there for the "little guy," which generates massive amounts of goodwill from online users.
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