Google India conducted a multi-city road show to help Bloggers and online content creators leverage video as an alternative means of expression to complement text/graphics. The session also highlighted the YouTube Partner Program and revenue sharing model.
I attended the session in Bangalore on June 16, 2012. This post is a summary of key points and some of the related thoughts that my mind pondered over.
YouTube in India
Google is of course, the undisputed leader among search-engines. It is relatively, lesser known that YouTube happens to be the second largest (not Bing or Yahoo). These are some of the India specific numbers that the G-Team shared (as of June 2012).
- 25.2 million unique users; up from 16 million last in 2011
- Average consumer - 'Young, Wealthy and Male'
- 49% of Indian audience is between 20-29 years
- 70% of the audience is male
- 86% of audience access YouTube at home; 18% on the move and 31% in the office
- The average session lasts for 25 minutes
- Indian watch about 7 - 15 videos in each session
- Usage is maximum during October-December (Diwali-Christmas-New Year season)
Value proposition: What really stands out from these data points is that YouTube reaches out to wealthy young Indians. It has been able to engage the audience more effectively (25 mins) than any other contemporary channel and an overwhelming majority (86%) connect to YouTube when they are relaxed (at home). Furthermore, every time you visit YouTube to watch a video of your choice, statistics say that you will almost certainly watch 6-10 more videos that Google suggests you.
Now that's a terrific proposition. Both for entertainment and business; there is enough money to be made.
Who owns the content? Who makes the money?
Suppose, you come up with a cute-cat-video or the next best thing to Kolaveri-Di and upload on YouTube. If your video can get a million views, can you encash that creativity of yours into some hard cash? Can you host advertisements on your video and make some cash? Do you need Google's permission?
Also, it is interesting to note that Google too cannot place random advertisements on all videos on YouTube. Because, user-uploaded videos are Intellectual Property (IP) of the user and Google cant make money out of its popularity without the user's consent.
Here's the common ground. This is the deal that Google offers.
"You post interesting videos; we will place relevant advertisements on them. Let's split the revenue in 55:45. Users get the larger share. Oh yes, you'll have to sign up for the partner program"
Well, the Google team took additional efforts to emphasize that revenue sharing model is standard across the globe and the company does not negotiate on this.
Here's a video on the partner program.
One can sign up for the partner program through the link below.