Even after the take down of content by Viacom, YouTube still managed to bring traffic to a strong 15% gain.
During the week of February 3, YouTube’s traffic surged above the combined traffic to all of the television network websites. This is a landmark event in the changing face of web traffic and entertainment consumption, now that entertainment seekers are now more likely to go to YouTube than any other television network or gaming website.
With traffic still on the rise, television networks should really be concerned about whether or not it was a wise move to order the take down of their content from YouTube. Why? Instead of bargaining a deal with Google about allowing YouTube to host the videos, they are going to be getting less traffic.
With more and more traffic going to YouTube, that’s less and less traffic going to the various television network sites; less advertising inventory and less revenue.
YouTube’s first-mover advantage over all other competing sites is one of the key factors to the success of YouTube thus far. No one else has that advantage and they are suffering because of it.
