Top > Entertainment > 2006 > October > 2006-10-15

GooTube

The morning after is the time to ask the questions, and so it is with the YouTube-Google deal, or as many call it: the Google-YouTube deal. Google has forked over a whopping $1.65 billion to buy the video sharing Web site and there is much congratulating going around directed at YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, but there is also a lot of worrying about the future of the YouTube community.

The fear is that with Google moving in, the site might become crowded out by advertising and corporate involvement. Larger entities are entering the YouTube realm and threaten to shake up the withstanding democracy, where amateurs stand on equal footing with the professionals. The pros are growing in number: YouTube has recently reached agreements with CBS Corp., Vivendi`s Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, NBC Universal and Warner Music Group Corp.

Although this is the biggest deal and most likely the most influencing of deals struck with YouTube, Google appears to many as less threatening, enjoying a stereotypical status of a company known for innovation and Internet savvy. In any case, Hurley, Chen and the other 65 YouTube employees will continue to work independently at their new offices in San Bruno, Calif.