YouTube was founded in 2005 by former PayPal employees who realized the need for a site to easily upload, watch and share videos. It has since grown tremendously and is one of the most popular sites on the internet, hosting 30 million videos viewed daily. While YouTube's rapid growth is due to its simple uploading process and wide variety of user-uploaded content, it now faces challenges around copyright infringement and developing a profitable business model beyond advertising.

3. YouTube is an internet site thatpeople can see first-hand accounts of current events, find videos about their hobbies and interests.YouTube is a way to get your videos to the people who matter to you. Upload, tag and share your videos worldwide!

4. YouTube was founded by three former PayPal employees(Chad Hurley,Steve Chen, Jawed Karim), who, witnessing the boom of online grassroots video, realized the need for a decent service that made the process of uploading, watching and sharing videos hassle-free. They registered the domain YouTube.com on February 15th, 2005 and developed the site over the following months from a garage in Menlo Park. growing website at present, YouTube.

5. STATISTICS ABOUT YOUTUBE

12. HOW DOES IT WORK??

14. FIRST you should take an account to upload a video or if you have a google account you can sign in and upload your video in this way too. BUT if you just want to watch a video you mustn’t take an account. FOR WATCHING VIDEOS there should be Adobe Flash Player in your computer.Launched in 2005, YouTube supports AVI, MOV and MPEG video formats from most digital cameras, camcorders and cellphones and recommends DivX or XviD (MPEG-4) at 320x240 resolution for best results. YouTube converts all uploaded videos to Flash video, and users must have the Flash player in their computers to play them.

15. As a result of its free-ranging content supplied by users, YouTube has often faced problems with copyright infringement. Because it relies on flash technology that does not permit downloads, YouTube has been able to skirt any major legal problems by simply removing videos at the request of the copyright holder. The company has also reached partnership deals with numerous content providers, including many record labels, CBS, BBC, The Sundance Channel, and the National Basketball Association. After devoting most of its attention to building a community, which in turn built the brand, YouTube is searching for a way to turn a profit, to "monetize" the service by pursuing an advertising-based business model that could include traditional banner advertising as well as sponsorships, contextual-based advertising, and participatory video ads. With Google's backing, YouTube is also expanding the brand internationally, setting up locally oriented video-sharing sites in individual countries.

16. ECONOMICGROWTHYouTube, that has become an Internet phenomenon. In 11 months the site has become one of the most popular on the Net. It shows 30 million videos a day and drew 9.1 million people in February, says Web measurement service Nielsen//NetRatings. That makes the upstart one of the biggest providers of videos on the Net, ahead of Yahoo! (YHOO ) and Google (GOOG ) and just behind Microsoft (MSFT ), according to the Nielsen//NetRatings estimates.Why has the site caught on so fast? Chen and Hurley designed it so people can post almost anything they like on YouTube in minutes. The result is something like the TV station you always dreamed of. YouTube offers mainstream shows from the current season, clips from TV's earliest days, and homemade movies from around the world. You watch what you want when you want, whether it's highlights from Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant's 81-point outburst in January or a 1968 clip of Johnny Cash performing Ring of Fire.Members, who can comment on videos and set up their own sites on YouTube, are adding 30,000 new videos a day

17. COMPETITION…Chen says "From Day One we concentrated on building a service and community around video. That made us a lot different from the iTunes and the Googles out there.“One of downside to YouTube's sudden popularity was conflict with content providers and Internet rivals. MySpace, for example, blocked YouTube videos on their pages, but quickly backed down when MySpace users vehemently protested.

19. WHAT DO THEY WANT???What does YouTube want to be when it grows up? Is it the next NBC or the next Napster (NAPS )? Hurley and Chen think they're working toward the future of TV. Venture stalwart Sequoia Capital is betting on the prospect, having invested $3.5 million. But skeptics wonder if the startup can balance its surging popularity with the looming legal risks. "I think YouTube is fantastic," says Joanne Bradford, head of sales at MSN and other Microsoft properties. "But five years from now I don't know how they make their money. Their problem is all the pirated content."The next few time will be critical for youtube. Hurley and Chen are investigating whether they can generate revenues by adding advertising. They're also working to convince media companies that YouTube can be a good partner, capable of delivering an audience of millions. The San Mateo Company is rolling out tools aimed at protecting copyrighted works, including technology that prevents clips from being uploaded again once they've been removed. They're also limiting videos to 10 minutes to cut out entire TV episodes and movies. "We want to be a destination that promotes the entertainment offered by these guys," says Hurley, YouTube's chief executive.

20. BUT…Youtube is a great idea for us, it’s easy, useful and funny.BUT; how often we use youtube or whatever it works for, it will be in a relationship with Google in the future and we’ll continue to use Google everytime. But it is like using Microsoft Software Program every part of our life.Its downside is: If Bill Gates pushes the button life will stop for a while in the world. All banks, markets, companies, schools and you suffer a loss…So we shouldn’t adhere one thing in our life especiallay if the subject is comunication..