Video-sharing site YouTube will from tomorrow start paying its users for creating popular content, opening the way for loser-generated content to become a potential breadwinner for net nerds.
In order to generate revenue for this payment, YouTube will be using banner ads but there are plans to include either pre-roll or post-roll advertisements on their site as well.
Previously users that generated high traffic on the site had been rewarded with the YouTube Awards, which began for the first time this March. Now users may be able to earn a living from YouTube, said Jamie Byrne, vice-president of marketing with YouTube.
According to web analysis firm Compete.com, over 35 million people logged onto YouTube approximately 115 million times in the month of February alone, giving it a 45pc share of the internet video market.
Byrne said: “A select group of content creators will get promotion on the YouTube platform and we will help them monetise their content.
“This will help erase the stigma around the user-created content. To be honest, these guys are media entities in their own right.”
The decision to pay users had already been announced back in January at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland by co-founder of YouTube Chad Hurley.
This move represents a change for the Google-acquired company. Hurley had originally maintained that the whole point of user-generated content was to encourage creativity by the absence of financial gain.
By Marie Boran
