June 20, 2007
Will YouTube kill off local video sites?
YouTube's decision to customize its service for nine countries, including France and Spain, was a major blow to local competitors, but analysts said that it would not spell the end for foreign language video sites. The Times reports.
"Several sites, particularly in Western Europe, where broadband penetration is high, had capitalised on the fact that YouTube's interface was not ideal for French and Spanish video, and attracted users who liked being able to search for and post videos in their language.
... YouTube has tremendous appeal because of its international content, which adds a layer that local players can't compete with," Rebecca Jennings, a senior analyst with Forrester, said. "There's different appetite for different types of content globally, though. In South America, for instance, soap operas are enormously popular; in Asia it's game shows. Generally, local players are able to understand those demands better."
But the figures do not make pleasant reading for YouTube's competition.
According to ComScore, the research firm, YouTube is now the number one video-sharing in France, with 7.7 million unique users, surpassing DailyMotion's 6.6 million."
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