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This isn't about Youtube, this is simply use of a property with a massive userbase owned by Google to promote its strategic priority du jour, which is getting t
by patio11 14y ago
This isn't about Youtube, this is simply use of a property with a massive userbase owned by Google to promote its strategic priority du jour, which is getting traction for Google+. This is hardly the first time Google has done this -- for example, they'll often bootstrap key products with "Oh yeah, we have a mortal lock on navigation on the Internet." That's why Google Video (and later Youtube) got such prominent billing in the search results, why Chrome has a front-page-of-the-Internet banner ad on the homepage of the company that doesn't do banner ads, etc.
+ Edit to add: A quick check of a few diverse searches show that Youtube is substantially less prominent than I remember it being.
- esrauch 14y agoGoogle does sell image ads, though I suppose they never put them on their own properties.
- sodafountan 14y agoNot necessarily just to get traction for Google+ but I believe that Google is also competing directly with Facebook to control your "Identity on the internet". Once one of these monolithic companies controls your identity they can then directly target you no matter where you are on the internet. It's kind of scary, and I believe that it's a fight that Google is destined to win.