Last December, Google's video sharing site, YouTube, began selectively working with a few original content creators, urging them to upload content on a revenue-sharing basis. These creators included large media houses like Yash Raj Films, Zee TV, and Sony Entertainment TV, with which Google has shared partnerships for long. With the venture yielding favourable results, YouTube on Tuesday formally launched its YouTube Partner Programme (YPP) in the country.
Users from India come second only to those in the US in terms of uploading content on YouTube. The site does not reveal the number of partners it has in India, but globally, the online video sharing platform has 20,000 partners. The programme, started in 2007, is now conducted across 22 countries, with many users making thousands of dollars a month. Some have even made more than $100,000 a year, according to YouTube officials.
As a Google partner, a content provider has access to its advertising network, back-end support for video content and the means to earn revenues online. One the first few content providers from India to join the YPP in late 2009 was Sameer Modi of 1 TakeMedia, which produces independent films and short documentaries online. While Modi did not share the amount of money he made through the programme, he acknowledged his marketing bandwidth has increased. "As my viewership goes up, so does the revenue earned from advertisers. This is without me spending a single rupee in marketing my content," says Modi. While Modi grew his content library to 1,600 videos last year, he claims his YouTube channel is adding 1.5 million viewers every month.
Besides big banners, YouTube is also focusing on small independent studios and individual content creators. For instance, Amit Agarwal, a personal technology columnist and founder of website Digital Inspiration, joined the partner programme early this year. But Agarwal had to wait till his cumulative view count exceeded one million. While Agarwal says he's not making a "significant amount of money from advertising," he admits YPP gives him the opportunity to maximise his revenue from video through the Google AdSense platform. "As a partner, I get a few benefits such as the ability to customise my YouTube channel page and make it more professional-looking or cross link my website write-ups with my videos. This in turn, increases credibility and helps new visitors sign up for my channel feeds. Since my subject is of niche interest, I get up to 5,000 views for my videos that can be monetised through contextual ads that are automatically placed on videos," he says.
The potential is huge. According to Google estimates, YouTube, which commands 20 million unique users across India, is set to touch 25-30 million users by end of this year. The website is relying on its content providers to bring in new users to the site. Typically, content creators get to keep up to 70 per cent of the advertising revenues, while the rest goes to Google for providing the back-end network and the advertising platform. Google also estimates international users reportedly view videos uploaded from India almost three times more than any other videos online. Nearly 60 per cent of Indian users prefer Indian content.
Content providers like Abhigyaan Jha, creator of Jay Hind (a full-format high definition show online) ran his programme on YouTube and on the company's website for two years. Jay Hind has registered over 100 million views in just two years since its launch. The biweekly late night comedy show recorded an average of 150,000 views per day. About seven per cent of the viewership is accounted for by international markets. "I haven't promoted my content nor advertised, and yet I get viewers from US markets. That's because they know of YouTube and my content is featured by Google online," says Jha.
With the digital advertising marketplace only getting bigger, content providers can look forward to a greater revenue share from online media. According to IAMAI data, Indian online advertising revenue stood at around Rs 1,000 crore in 2010, and would stand at around Rs 1,500 crore by the end of 2011. A major chunk of the advertising pie comes to video sites like YouTube in form of display advertising, embedded ads, banner ads and in-video stream ads.
David Macdonald, head of YouTube Content Operations (Asia Pacific), says YouTube also plans to start an incubation programme that would identify new partners for YPP. "We are still working on this. In this incubation programme, we can help them (YPPs) create content and give them tools. Other than large media houses driving consumption, in recent times, we have seen an increasing demand for user-generated content or individual content," he said.
Google estimates 76 per cent content viewership of Indian content partners is accounted for by international markets, making YouTube a preferred platform to monetise their content. According to a latest Citi report, YouTube's revenue hit $850 million in 2010. It is set to touch $1.3 billion in 2011 and $1.7 billion in 2012. Currently, 81 per cent of YouTube's Top 100 videos show ads, compared to about 60 per cent a year ago.
