Dennis Berman interviews Susan Wojcicki in the Wall Street Journal:
We’re a platform that enables other companies to create content or to have that content distributed. So, in a sense, our platform model, being ad supported, also impacts the type of content we can do. It doesn’t make sense for us to do it in the same way Netflix and Amazon are doing. We have YouTube stars that develop content. We’re taking those top stars and then we’re saying, “Well, how do you create content." That’s where we felt we could differentiate.
The popular image of YouTube used to be that it was a venue for funny videos. But the company has taken on an array of new roles in the past few years—raising the question of where the service fits into a world awash with streaming video.
To understand what YouTube is and what it wants to become, The Wall Street Journal’s Dennis Berman spoke with the company’s chief executive officer, Susan Wojcicki.
Here are edited excerpts of their conversation.
Finding a place
MR. BERMAN: We heard from Reed Hastings [co-founder and chief executive of Netflix] last night. We obviously heard from Jeff [Bewkes, chairman and chief executive of Time Warner Inc.] and Randall [Stephenson, chairman and chief executive of AT&T] this morning. Man, these guys are big companies. They have big budgets. Where does YouTube fit into this?
MS. WOJCICKI: Our goal is to be the next-generation platform for media companies. And to do that in an ad-supported and subscription way.
When you’re an ad-supported platform and you serve a global market, our focus is really reach. We serve over a billion users that come to our site every month. And so if you have something and you want to have that content become famous, you want that content to have impact, YouTube is a great place to go.
For the user side, if you actually want to go and learn about anything, see the most amount of content, YouTube is going to be the place to go.
MR. BERMAN: In terms of developing your own content, Netflix, as Reed was telling us last night, he’s targeting $10 million today, perhaps $20 million an hour of premium content. Google and YouTube have taken a few baby steps in that regard. Are you willing to truly go the way that Amazon is and that Netflix is and so many other creators are?
MS. WOJCICKI: Well, I think our models are different for a few reasons.
Netflix either licenses content or they produce content. We’re a platform that enables other companies to create content or to have that content distributed. So, in a sense, our platform model, being ad supported, also impacts the type of content we can do. It doesn’t make sense for us to do it in the same way Netflix and Amazon are doing. But we started YouTube Red, a full music-subscription service.
In addition to that we have the YouTube stars that develop content. A lot of times YouTube stars will have big followings on YouTube. Our largest star, PewDiePie, has over 45 million subscribers. And so we’re taking those top stars and then we’re saying, “Well, how do you create content and take it to the next level?”
So that’s where we felt we could really differentiate, because if we’re to go into the market and compete with Netflix and compete with Amazon and do that in the same way, that’s a competitive market. I don’t think we’ve ever seen as much content being produced as right now.
MR. BERMAN: So you guys have made a decision, “We’re just not even going to go there.” They’re going top down in terms of budgets and spending. You’re going bottom up, finding people who have their organic audiences and putting them in better environments.
MS. WOJCICKI: I think we’re focused on the YouTube experience and the YouTube audience that we have there. And making sure that we are working with the YouTube stars to take that content to the next level. And so far the reception has been really positive.
The YouTube stars have real followings. Variety, for example, did a study and they looked at American teens and they said, “Among the American teens, who are your biggest stars?” And eight of the top 10 were YouTubers. And so these are real personalities with very loyal followings.
So really it made sense for us to work with those stars as opposed to going out and saying, “Let’s do something completely out of the YouTube ecosystem.” Let’s do something focused on the YouTube ecosystem. I think you build your subscription service.
The advertising picture
MR. BERMAN: Can you give us a general sense of what it costs for a brand to advertise on YouTube?
MS. WOJCICKI: We run it on an auction basis. Advertising is sold CPM, meaning it’s sold per thousand impressions. So it will vary. I don’t want to give a specific number, because when you look at advertising you look at that for the specific audience that you’re trying to reach, but then you also look at, is it men 18 to 24. Is it women? In Vietnam? One of the amazing things is we just have really, really broad reach across the globe.
MS. WOJCICKI: We have a system called Content ID, which is a technology that we have invested $60 million in. Content ID enables rights holders to be able to give us their content and for us to be able to identify their content. And then they choose.
They either will say, “Take down my content if it’s uploaded to YouTube,” or “Leave it up and let me make money from it,” and monetize it with ads. Or leave it up and not monetize it with ads.
MR. BERMAN: What’s the single most important metric now, knowing that all this information’s out there, that the advertiser wants today from YouTube?
MS. WOJCICKI: If you’re an advertiser, at the end of the day what you’re going to go back and you’re going to look at is, “Did this actually provide positive ROI for me. So I spent $1,000. I made $2,000.” Regardless of the metrics that we provide, they’re going to see that. And we’re going to provide metrics that are going to show that. Or brand lift. Or increased awareness.
0 comments:
Post a Comment