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Yes it is quite amazing how they have almost complete browser dominance and video content creation/hosting dominance as well as search dominance but are unable

Yes it is quite amazing how they have almost complete browser dominance and video content creation/hosting dominance as well as search dominance but are unable to come up with even a simple in browser tipping system to hedge against the downfall of their almost entirely ad based revenue.

pishpash 7y ago
Corporations are not meant to disrupt themselves. It just doesn't happen.
- robotresearcher 7y ago
  Netflix did.
- compiler-guy 7y ago
  Apple disrupted itself at least twice. macOS are the Apple II series iPhone clobbered the iPod.
  - NikkiA 7y ago
    Both of those are examples of parallel product groups that eventually migrated one set to the other. The Apple II product line lasted until 1992, by which point the Mac product line had become affordable to the people at which the apple 2 line had been marketed. The iPod continued as the iPod classic and iPod touch products until 2015, nearly 10 years after the iPhone was released.
omarchowdhury 7y ago
You're assuming that an "in browser tipping system" is a viable hedge to the also assumed downfall of their ad based revenue.
- trophycase 7y ago
  Well Patreon is proving to be somewhat successful, I don't see why something similar, or donation/tipping shouldn't be easy to incorporate.
  - omarchowdhury 7y ago
    Patreon launched in 2013 and estimates $1 billion in total payments to creators by the end of 2019. That averages out to $166M/year. Google reported $30 billion in ad revenue for Q1 2019, that's 6 years of Patreon transaction activity compressed into 3 days (or their entire 2019 activity of $500M in payments in less than 2 days). Can you still extrapolate from this that the tipping model is even anywhere near a threat to Google's ad based business model that they should be incorporating it? And is it even an apples to apples comparison? Many creators don't use Patreon in spite of or to replace ads, they use it as a supplement. Moreover, just because something is technically simple to integrate, doesn't automatically make it the correct business decision to do so.
    - trophycase 7y ago
      First of all, I guarantee a native Youtube donation/subscription/tipping service would already have far more users than Patreon even does currently (see twitch.tv for a great model) due the enormous network effect Youtube already has. Second of all, $1 billion and growing rapidly for a third party service. Nearly every quality Youtube channel I am subscribed to has a patreon at this point, and I can only imagine it increasing as a percentage of income the content creator generates. > Can you still extrapolate from this that the tipping model is even anywhere near a threat to Google's ad based business model that they should be incorporating it? No, but we can extrapolate from twitch, and guess that it probably would be. > Many creators don't use Patreon in spite of or to replace ads, they use it as a supplement. Because it is a third party site, there is no such option. It would be trivial to incorporate an ad-free experience for donations/subscriptions similar to how twitch does.
      - manigandham 7y ago
        >> native Youtube donation/subscription/tipping service This exists, already competes with Twitch, and is part of an even bigger portfolio of media services from Google. You're arguing for Google to do something they have been doing for years. https://www.youtube.com/premium https://www.youtube.com/premium https://support.google.com/youtubegaming/answer/6304294 https://support.google.com/youtubegaming/answer/6304294 https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7277005 https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7277005
vbezhenar 7y ago
Are you talking about contributor.google.com?
UncleMeat 7y ago
> unable to come up with even a simple in browser tipping system to hedge against the downfall of their almost entirely ad based revenue Google has launched multiple micropayment products as replacements for ads. Nobody uses them.
skybrian 7y ago
There have been experiments that you probably didn't hear about. I liked the old version of Google Contributor, but apparently few others did.

pishpash 7y ago

Corporations are not meant to disrupt themselves. It just doesn't happen.

robotresearcher 7y ago
Netflix did.
compiler-guy 7y ago
Apple disrupted itself at least twice. macOS are the Apple II series iPhone clobbered the iPod.
- NikkiA 7y ago
  Both of those are examples of parallel product groups that eventually migrated one set to the other. The Apple II product line lasted until 1992, by which point the Mac product line had become affordable to the people at which the apple 2 line had been marketed. The iPod continued as the iPod classic and iPod touch products until 2015, nearly 10 years after the iPhone was released.

omarchowdhury 7y ago

You're assuming that an "in browser tipping system" is a viable hedge to the also assumed downfall of their ad based revenue.

trophycase 7y ago
Well Patreon is proving to be somewhat successful, I don't see why something similar, or donation/tipping shouldn't be easy to incorporate.
- omarchowdhury 7y ago
  Patreon launched in 2013 and estimates $1 billion in total payments to creators by the end of 2019. That averages out to $166M/year. Google reported $30 billion in ad revenue for Q1 2019, that's 6 years of Patreon transaction activity compressed into 3 days (or their entire 2019 activity of $500M in payments in less than 2 days). Can you still extrapolate from this that the tipping model is even anywhere near a threat to Google's ad based business model that they should be incorporating it? And is it even an apples to apples comparison? Many creators don't use Patreon in spite of or to replace ads, they use it as a supplement. Moreover, just because something is technically simple to integrate, doesn't automatically make it the correct business decision to do so.
  - trophycase 7y ago
    First of all, I guarantee a native Youtube donation/subscription/tipping service would already have far more users than Patreon even does currently (see twitch.tv for a great model) due the enormous network effect Youtube already has. Second of all, $1 billion and growing rapidly for a third party service. Nearly every quality Youtube channel I am subscribed to has a patreon at this point, and I can only imagine it increasing as a percentage of income the content creator generates. > Can you still extrapolate from this that the tipping model is even anywhere near a threat to Google's ad based business model that they should be incorporating it? No, but we can extrapolate from twitch, and guess that it probably would be. > Many creators don't use Patreon in spite of or to replace ads, they use it as a supplement. Because it is a third party site, there is no such option. It would be trivial to incorporate an ad-free experience for donations/subscriptions similar to how twitch does.
    - manigandham 7y ago
      >> native Youtube donation/subscription/tipping service This exists, already competes with Twitch, and is part of an even bigger portfolio of media services from Google. You're arguing for Google to do something they have been doing for years. https://www.youtube.com/premium https://www.youtube.com/premium https://support.google.com/youtubegaming/answer/6304294 https://support.google.com/youtubegaming/answer/6304294 https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7277005 https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7277005

vbezhenar 7y ago

Are you talking about contributor.google.com?

UncleMeat 7y ago

> unable to come up with even a simple in browser tipping system to hedge against the downfall of their almost entirely ad based revenue Google has launched multiple micropayment products as replacements for ads. Nobody uses them.

skybrian 7y ago

There have been experiments that you probably didn't hear about. I liked the old version of Google Contributor, but apparently few others did.