YouTube turns five

SAN FRANCISCO: YouTube turned five on Friday.

In the scant time since the first video was uploaded to YouTube on April 23, 2005, the website has rocketed to global stardom and become a key player in a shift to Internet television.

“Hundreds of millions of people around the world now use the Web to connect and interact with content online,” YouTube product manager Shenaz Zack said in a blog post on the eve of the website's birthday.

“A huge percentage of them go even further: they express themselves via parodies, celebrate their favourite videos with mashups, and use music in educational presentations.

Google is planning a series of celebratory events for closer to the fifth anniversary of the public launch of YouTube in October 2005.

Google bought YouTube in a $1.65-billion deal about 19 months after the online video-sharing service was founded in February of 2005.

The Internet giant has been carefully transforming YouTube into a money-making stage for enjoying works ranging from backyard videos to independent films.

YouTube says more than a billion videos are seen daily on its website, which serves up money-making ads to viewers.

An average of 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube each minute in an amount of content equal to 150,000 full length films over the course of a week.

The website boasts content deals with more than 10,000 partners including entertainment titan Disney, and on Friday expanded a fledgling online movie rental service.

San Bruno, California-based YouTube was the brainchild of then PayPal co-workers Steve Chen and Jawed Karim.

YouTube became a natural spot for users to upload controversial content, such as pornography or pirated snippets of television shows or films. It also became a springboard for unknowns to become international stars with home made videos showcasing wit, talent or just the incredibly odd. — AFP