YouTube is celebrating its fifth birthday and offering up some mind-boggling statistics that chronicle the growth of the video-sharing site. The Google-owned property is changing the face of broadcasting, but has yet to get out of the red.
p
It all began in 2005. The YouTube team reminisced about months of late nights, testing and preparation that led up the launch of YouTube’s first beta version. The mission was simple: Give anyone a place to easily upload their videos and share them with the world.
p
What started as a site for bedroom vloggers and viral videos has evolved into a global platform that supports HD and 3-D, broadcasts entire sports seasons live to 200+ countries, the YouTube team said in a blog posting. That’s more than self-congratulatory back-patting on YouTube’s part. The impact the site has made on the Web 2.0 revolution is undeniable.
p
subhead
YouTube by the Numbers
/subhead
p
YouTube became the place where you could broadcast yourself. Today, YouTube exceeds two billion views a day. That’s nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major U.S. television networks combined. This is only growing, as YouTube reports more than 24 hours of video is uploaded every minute.
p
Although there’s no profit, YouTube is actively seeking to cross that line — and the company is making progress. YouTube now monetizes one billion videos every week. The company also reports that ad revenue tripled in 2009. And YouTube is attracting some heavy-hitting advertising clients. Ninety-four percent of Ad Age’s top 100 advertisers have marketed their wares, widgets and services on the video site.
p
YouTube has clearly continued to enjoy massive success as the leading video destination. Google also says that ad revenues are growing significantly there as well, said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.
p
YouTube’s efforts at subscription-based models so far have not fared as successfully,…