YouTube Now Gets 1 Billion Users a Month

YouTube now has more than a billion unique users users:  every single month, representing about half of all Internet users globally. What isn't yet so clear, as with Android, is how widespread usage will lead to business benefits for Google, especially revenue. 

Current thinking probably revolves around advertising, a logical enough line of thought. But most media-related businesses have multiple sources of revenue (subscriptions, advertising, promotion and marketing services, research, conferences), so it is possible other sources ultimately could be important as well. 


And mobile and tablets figure into the discussion in a big way. For the first time, an entire generation has grown up watching content using the Internet, mobile, and social apps, consuming content when and where they want. 

Nielsen calls this group "Generation C" because they are not just defined by their age group, but by their connected behavior. In part, that means they watch on multiple devices, though in linear fashion. 

But the deeper  changes pertain to "sharing" behaviors. Generation C creates videos, and does not simply watch them. They share what they like and curate content for others. All of that means YouTube could have monetization opportunities of several types, eventually. 

At least some of those opportunities will flow from the use of mobiles with highly contextual location capabilities.