Google Plays Hardball Over YouTube

By John Boyle | February 7, 2007

New NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker blasted Google-owned YouTube on Wednesday, complaining YouTube wasn’t doing enough to stop users from uploading copyrighted clips of NBC shows such as Saturday Night Live:

“YouTube needs to prove that it will implement its filtering technology across its online platform. It’s proven it can do it when it wants to,” he said. “They have the capability. The question is whether they have the will.”

Big media companies have been slow to recognize the potential of YouTube to promote their shows and products. So far only CBS has really stepped up and actively used YouTube.

Why isn’t Google working harder to sign the big media companies up? They’re playing some serious hardball for two reasons. First, to show that, even after they pull clips at a company’s request, users reupload them (they can’t be stopped). Second, Google is betting that the big media companies are too top heavy and suspicious of each other to partner together to form their own YouTube-Killer.

Either way by dragging their feet Google is betting FOX, CBS, NBC, Disney and Viacom will say, “The hell with it. This is more trouble than it’s worth. Sign the contract.”

Google gets the deal they want, at the price they want.

John Boyle runs SocialNext, a blog that tracks and analyses marketing via social networks and viral video.

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