YouTube is one of the largest and most popular video distribution platforms on the Internet. It has more than 4 billion hours worth of video viewers every month, and an estimated 500 hours of video content are uploaded to YouTube every passing minute.

1. YouTube's History and Its Impact on the
Internet
YouTube is the de facto video-sharing platform on the Internet; but
who founded it, and why?
Christopher McFadden | Jul 03, 2020 11:24 AM EST
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ozgurdonmaz/iStock
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YouTube is one of the largest and most popular video distribution
platforms on the Internet. It has more than 4 billion hours worth of
video viewers every month, and an estimated 500 hours of video content
are uploaded to YouTube every passing minute.
Since its origins in 2005, YouTube has transformed itself from a
showcase for amateur videos to one that distributes original content.
CULTURE
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2. It has also enabled the creation of an entirely new profession —
YouTube content creator, which can be a very pro몭table career for some
YouTubers around the world.
What was the original purpose of YouTube?
YouTube was originally created as a platform for anyone to post any
video content they desired. It was hoped that users could use the site
to upload, share, and view content without restriction.
It has since grown to become one of the foremost video distribution
sites in the world. Today, many content creators make a decent living
by selling ad space before or on videos they create and upload onto the
site.
Thanks to things like YouTube's Partner Program and Google's AdSense, a few
people can actually create successful careers as YouTubers.
YouTube was founded on Valentine's Day in 2005. It was the brainchild
of Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all former
employees of Paypal.
The platform, like so many others in Silicon Valley, began as an angel-
funded enterprise with makeshift o몭ces in a garage.
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3. According to its founders, the idea was born at a dinner party in San
Fransisco, about a year earlier, in 2004. The trio was frustrated by how
hard it was, at the time, to 몭nd and share video clips online.
“Video, we felt, really wasn’t being addressed on the Internet,” said
Chad Hurley in an early interview. “People were collecting video clips on
their cell phones … but there was no easy way to share [them].”
In May of 2005, the beta version of YouTube was up on the net, and
within a month, the very 몭rst video was posted. It was titled, "Me at the
Zoo," and was a 19-second long clip posted by Karim himself. The video
featured footage of Karim at the San Diego Zoo, talking about
elephants and their trunks.
By September of 2005, YouTube had managed to get its 몭rst video with
one million views. This was a Nike ad that went and gone viral.
This 몭rst YouTube viral video was a clip of Brazilian soccer player
Ronaldinho receiving a pair of Golden Boots. Nike was also one of the 몭rst
major companies to embrace YouTube's promotional potential.
Source: jawed/YouTube
Source: Rego Korosi/Flickr
Click here

4. The following month, in November of 2005, the venture capital 몭rm
Sequoia Capital invested an impressive $3.5 million in the
business. Roelof Botha (who also formerly worked for Paypal) joined
YouTube's board of directors.
Sequoia and Artis Capital Management invested an additional $8 million,
in 2006, as the website saw signi몭cant growth in its 몭rst few months.
Who founded YouTube?
As previously mentioned, YouTube was founded by:
All three were working for Paypal at the time of YouTube's founding in
2005.
Chad Hurley studied design at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania
prior to joining Ebay's PayPal division after graduating in 1999. At
Paypal, he primarily focused on the user experience (UX) of their
interface.
Steven Shih Chen was born in 1978 in Taipei, Taiwan. His family
emigrated to the U.S. when he was eight years old. Steve left the Illinois
Mathematics and Science Academy prior to graduating.
He later attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where
he graduated in 2002 with a degree in computer science. He would
later join Paypal.
Jawed Karim was born in 1979 in Merseburg, East Germany. His father
was Bangladeshi, and his mother was German.
Source: Joshua P Mathias/YouTube
Chad Hurley
Steve Chen
Jawed Karim
YouTube's founders, Source: Ianmacm/Wikimedia Commons

5. After experiencing xenophobia in Germany, his father moved the family
to Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1992. Jawed would later study computer
science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, but left prior to
graduating.
After dropping out, Jawed would become an early employee of the
몭edgling Paypal. While at Paypal, he continued his coursework and
eventually graduated with a degree in computer science, and went on
to earn a master's degree in computer science from Stanford
University.
How was YouTube created?
Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim met at Paypal.
The concept of YouTube was inspired, according to Jawed Karim, by videos
of Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl, and the
devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
"As a capital-funded startup, the idea for YouTube received an $11.5
million investment from Sequoia Capital in 2005. In February, the
domain name was registered in the headquarters above a pizzeria in
California. In April, the 몭rst-ever video was uploaded by Karim named
"Me at the Zoo". After a Beta testing period, the site launched in
December 2005, and a Nike commercial became the 몭rst video to
receive one million views," according to Engadget.
By February of 2005, YouTube's now-famous logo (since changed as of
The creation of YouTube was inspired by the tragic events of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Source: AusAID/Wikimedia
Commons
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6. By February of 2005, YouTube's now-famous logo (
2017) was registered as a trademark, and the website domain name was
also purchased.
The original idea for YouTube was for users to be able to upload videos,
introducing themselves, and saying what they were interested in. This
didn't really take o몭, and the co-founders soon pivoted to a more
general video-sharing site.
Since then, YouTube has grown exponentially. Here are some of the
major milestones in the company's history (courtesy, in part, of
inverse.com):
February 2005: Chad Hurley registers the "YouTube" trademark, logo, and
domain on Valentine's Day.
April 2005: "Me at the Zoo” becomes the 몭rst video to go up on the site. It is
fairly self-explanatory.
May 2005: YouTube's Beta site is launched.
July 2005: Video HTML embedding added to the site for the very 몭rst time.
August 2005: 5-star rating system added to YouTube.
September 2005: A Nike ad becomes the 몭rst video to hit 1 million views.
October 2005: YouTube's playlist function is added to YouTube for the 몭rst
time. This would become an integral part of the platform for content creators
and users. Fullscreen video is also added to the site. YouTube also adds its
subscription function.
December 2005: YouTube o몭cially launches out of its Beta status. This is
thanks, in part, to a multi-million investment from Sequoia Capital enabling
them to improve their servers with increased bandwidth.
January 2006: YouTube adds its "Groups" feature to the platform.
February 2006: For the 몭rst time user pro몭le personalization is added.
Click here

7. Source: Saph Photography/Pexels
March 2006: YouTube adds a ten-minute limit to all uploaded video content.
April 2006: YouTube adds its "Directors" function to the site.
May 2006: Responses to videos are allowed for the 몭rst time. Cellphone video
uploading functions are also included on the platform.
June 2006: Personalization of pro몭les features is further re몭ned and user
viewing history is also added to the site. YouTube also makes a deal with NBC
this month to remove some of its footage under copyright infringement laws.
YouTube also sets up its Content Veri몭cation Program to help prevent a similar
issue in the future. NBC later decide to let YouTube actually promote its
material on its site.
October 2006: Google acquires YouTube for $1.65 billion. At the time Google
calls YouTube, "the next step in the evolution of the Internet." Amazingly,
YouTube only had roughly 65 employees at the time.
May 2007: YouTube launches its Partner's Program to enable content creators
to actually make money o몭 the videos they create and upload. Many content
creators can 몭nally turn their hobbies into an actual pro몭table income stream.
This month, a baby named Charlie took the internet by storm in a 56-second
viral video. In the video, Charlie bites his brother's 몭nger and smiles. The
family who uploaded the video to YouTube is reported to have made
$100,000 from it.
June 2007: YouTube allows other languages to be used on its site for the 몭rst
time.
July 2007: YouTube partners with CNN to host its 몭rst presidential debate.
August 2007: This month, Google decides to start making some money from
their new acquisition by enabling ads on the platform for the 몭rst time.
Initially, semi-transparent banners were used that popped up at the bottom of
videos, overlaid on the content for between 10 and 15 seconds.
March 2008: YouTube allows support of 480p videos on the platform. Video
analytics are also added to the site.
December 2008: Audioswap is added to YouTube. This function allows content
creators to add music to their videos from a library of licensed songs.
January 2009: Google Videos uploading service is halted. The U.S. Congress also
launches its o몭cial YouTube channel this month. For the 몭rst time, U.S.
citizens can gain access to the goings-on in Congress like never before possible.
The Vatican also launches its own o몭cial YouTube channel.
April 2009: YouTube wins a Peabody Award for its outstanding achievements in
electronic media. Along with Vivendi, YouTube launches music video
service VEVO. Usher also introduces Justin Bieber to an unsuspecting world this
month. Depending on your point of view, this was either the darkest day in
YouTube history or one of its greatest.
November 2009: 1080p videos are 몭nally allowed on the platform.
December 2009: YouTubes automatic speech recognition service launches this
month.
January 2010: YouTube's feature 몭lm rental service launches this month. This
was a bold move in a gamble to directly challenge the hegemony of Net몭ix and
Apple.
March 2010: The now ubiquitous "Thumbs" rating system is added to YouTube.

8. RELATED: YOUTUBE PLANS TO GIVE USERS MORE CONTROL OVER ITS
CONTROVERSIAL ALGORITHM
Source: Rego Korosi/Flickr
July 2010: YouTube enables 4K videos to be uploaded to its platform for the 몭rst
time.
December 2010: YouTube plays a pivotal role in the coverage of the so-called
"Arab Spring". Activists from around the Muslim world used the platform to
spread messages of hope and de몭ance to accelerate the movement.
April 2011: YouTube Live is launched for the 몭rst time. This function enables
content creators and corporate/public organizations to stream live content.
Concerts, sports events, and even weddings begin to appear on the site.
October 2011: After the acquisition of Next New Networks (an original video
programming company) in March of 2011, YouTube launches its 몭rst original
channels. From this point forward, Google would o몭er original content creators
serious money to make videos exclusively for the platform.
November 2011: YouTube launches its "Youtube Analytics" tool. This function
enables content creators to intelligently track their channel's performance.
They can 몭nd out who is watching their videos, for how long, and which are the
most popular to target monetization strategies.
June 2012: YouTube merges with Google Video.
July 2012: The Olympics are live-streamed for the very 몭rst time.
October 2012: YouTube partners with ABC to live-stream a presidential
debate for the 몭rst time.
December 2012: “Gangnam Style” becomes the 몭rst video to hit 1 billion views.
March 2013: YouTube reaches 1 billion unique monthly visitors.
November 2014: Music Key is added to the site. This was a subscription-based
service that enabled users to stream music videos advertisement free from
participating labels on YouTube and Google Play Music. It would later be
superseded by YouTube Red.
November 2015: YouTube Red launches. Now called YouTube Premium, this is a
subscription service o몭ered by YouTube to provide advertisement-free access
to its content.
January 2016: Adele’s “Hello” becomes the fastest video to hit 1 billion views in
Click here

9. How did YouTube get its name?
Unlike a lot of other company names, YouTube's name is actually quite
self-explanatory.
"The name “YouTube” is actually pretty straightforward. The “You”
represents that the content is user-generated, created by individual
users and not the site itself, and “Tube” is a nod toward an older
original term for television.
Soon after YouTube's URL was registered, it came under immediate
attack by another company called Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment.
Their website address just happened to be very similar
—www.utube.com. They 몭led a lawsuit against YouTube, which appears
to have been unsuccessful. Today that company's URL
is www.utubeonline.com.
Since its early days in 2005, YouTube has grown to become a behemoth
of the Internet. It is now present in more than 75 countries and
available in 61 languages, with hundreds of hours of video content
uploaded every minute!
just 88 days.
February 2016: YouTube launches its general subscription service. This replaces
YouTube Red.
April 2018: This month a shooting took place at the YouTube headquarters in
San Bruno, California. The shooter was later identi몭ed as Nasim Naja몭
Aghdam. He entered the building from an exterior parking garage and wounded
three people before taking his own life.
October 2019: YouTube launches its "Two Ads" feature for the 몭rst time. By
adding two ads together (one of which is unskippable) YouTube creators are
given a much-needed boost in potential revenue. This followed the so-called
"Ad Apocalypse" a few months earlier. This was an event where YouTube
demonetized videos or entire channels for perceived "advertiser-unfriendly"
content.
November 2019: This month, Google announced that it would begin to phase
out its classic version of YouTube Studio to all content creators by the spring of
2020.
June 2020: YouTube begins to phase out the ability to use categories on its
platform.
Source: Mixter_X94/YouTube
Click here

10. Today, the site has more than one billion users and has become the de
facto video sharing platform on the Internet.
How does YouTube make money?
Like any business, YouTube needs to make money somehow. But, how
exactly does YouTube do it?
Let's take a quick look.
Before being purchased by Google, YouTube had declared a monthly
income of somewhere in the region of $15 million.
Despite this, when Google acquired the site back in 2006, it was a long
way from actually being a pro몭table business. But pro몭tability wasn't
the main reason that Google snapped them up.
Google saw the potential for the platform as an online video service.
They surmised that by combining YouTube's platform with Google's
enormous internet tra몭c, it would only be a matter of time before the
investment paid o몭.
Google eventually added their Google ads service to video content on
the platform in a bid to bring in some much-needed revenue from the
site. And it certainly worked.
By June 2008, Forbes magazine reported that YouTube was making
Source: Mike Lawrence/Flickr
Click here

11. By June 2008, magazine reported that YouTube was making
somewhere in the region of $200 million annually, mainly owing to
progress in advertising sales.
Through years of re몭nement, Google began to embed targeted
advertising directly into the video clips that its users watched, as well as
promoting featured content. This was later replaced by running paid
ads before a video began playing.
The company has also recently added the "two-ads" feature, which
shows two ads at once, to beef up potential revenue from the content.
But this is not the only revenue source for the platform. YouTube also
pulls in money through its subscriber-based model -- now called
YouTube Premium (previously YouTube Red), Music Premium service,
and paid TV service.
This service o몭ers users exclusive bene몭ts, like removing ads, and
charges subscribers a regular subscription fee.
As of 2017, Alphabet no longer breaks down revenue by platform, so it
is unclear exactly how much money YouTube brings in. However, as of
2019, YouTube is believed to have generated around $15 billion for
Alphabet -- that is about 10% of all of its annual revenue for the year.
Not too shabby.
But revenue is rarely without overheads. YouTube's running costs are
thought to be signi몭cant, believed by some to be as much as $5 or $6
million a month.
The bulk of this cost is from providing su몭cient network bandwidth for
its millions of users, as well as a host of other costs related to running
such a large company.
For the quarter ending December 2019, Alphabet as a whole reported
making $46 billion in revenue. Of that, somewhere in the region of
$10.7 billion was pro몭t.
The bulk of this was reaped from Google's main search business,
YouTube ad revenue, and income from its Google Cloud service.
As you can see, YouTube has come a long way since its inception back
in 2005. As social media begins to see losses from companies pulling
their ad campaigns in response to hate content, as well as actions such
as the indiscriminate demonetization of some channels, and the banning of
certain controversial content creators for promoting hate speech, as
well as the rise of Chinese live-streaming platforms, YouTube's future is
anyone's guess.
However, given YouTube's size, dominance, and market penetration, it
is unlikely to fade away any time soon. But only time will tell.
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