YouTube Launches 'Click-To-Buy' Partnerships
Google Video-Sharing Site Links to Apple’s iTunes Store, Amazon
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 10/8/2008 3:15:00 AM MT
Google wants to turn YouTube’s browsers into buyers, in another attempt to cash in on the site’s immense popularity. The video-sharing site has launched an e-commerce program that will offer YouTube viewers direct links to purchase content from Apple’s iTunes Store and Amazon.com.
The first media partners YouTube announced as participating in the program are EMI Music, which is allowing the links to buy songs from iTunes and Amazon.com to appear on pages that include authorized video content, and Electronics Arts, which is promoting its recently released videogame Spore.
YouTube plans to roll out its eCommerce Platform, currently available only in the United States, on a larger scale over the coming months to let music, film, TV, and publishing partners.
"YouTube content partners now have the ability to promote and monetize their content in a new and exciting way and create a deeper distribution channel for their content online," YouTube CEO Chad Hurley said, in a statement.
Meanwhile, Viacom’s billion-dollar copyright-infringement suit against Google and YouTube – alleging massive misappropriation of Viacom content – continues to proceed in New York federal court.
In the case, Viacom has requested information from YouTube investors Sequoia Capital, Artis Capital Management and TriplePoint Capital, including whether the firms received indemnification for copyright infringement relating to Google’s acquisition of the video site in 2006.
YouTube is the No. 1 video destination on the Internet, delivering 5 billion video views in July (representing 44% share of the market), according to comScore.
