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There is no denying that YouTube is by far one of the most popular sites on the web.  Millions of viewers around the world flock to YouTube to view entertaining video clips.  The best part is the ability to not only “Broadcast Yourself”, as YouTube’s slogan advises, but to share content with others.  You tell a friend, who tells their friends, who puts the word out via a bulletin board, and suddenly traffic is pouring into YouTube’s website to view a particular video.  Google has decided that it needs to cash in on this “viral” video viewing and is now setting its sights on buzz targeted advertising.
 
Late this past Spring, YouTube announced that it had found an algorithm which would allow the video site to predict when a certain video was about to go viral.  “The algorithm looks at several factors, such as acceleration of views, favorites, and ratings activity, and then allows advertisers to target their ads specifically to these videos on YouTube,” states the YouTube press release.  If the algorithm is able to perform correctly, advertisers should be more receptive to paying higher premiums for guaranteed blitz video coverage.
 
“Every advertiser hopes that their campaign will to be the next big viral hit online, and they come to YouTube to reach the millions of video viewers who are on the site everyday,” said Shiva Rajaraman, YouTube Product Manager. “Buzz targeting lets them do both at the same time.”
 
This begs the question, what does the poor person who actually produced the video get out of the deal?  Answer:  this does not apply to you.  YouTube is only applying the buzz targeting algorithm to select content partners.  That means that no hard working schmo that happens to hit amateur video gold will be cheated out of thousands of advertising dollars by YouTube or Google.  An example of content partners would be groups like TV Guide Broadband, Expert Village, Next New Networks, and Mondo Media.  Should any of their video content get picked up by the algorithm, sponsors who have paid to be in the queue for ad placement with viral videos will get product and brand recognition out to a massive amount of people.
 
Google is chomping at the bit to turn the massive earnings potential in YouTube viewership into actual numbers.  CNet  found that in Google’s earnings report, the search engine giant admitted that it hadn’t “figured out the perfect solution of how to make money.”  That’s certainly an interesting thing to say after spending $1.65 billion to acquire a company.  Still, it appears that buzz targeting may be a good start to monetizing YouTube, if not the perfect solution.
 
YouTube has tried other forms of advertising but none of them have met with significant success.  Overlays and tag ons, along with sidebar and banner placement ads have only netted modest returns.  Should the buzz targeting algorithm deliver on YouTube’s promises, Google may not have to search so hard for additional monetization plans.