YouTube is Hit a Billion Times a Day

October 15, 2009 - 10:43 am

We’re talking web hits here, not hit videos. The popularity of online video sharing site YouTube continues to grow… where will it stop?

The original idea was simple: A place where people could upload self-made videos and share them. Created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees, it came at a time when a growing number of Internet users had a fast enough connection to stream video and flash technology allowed people to record video with their cameras (and even their phones).

Early success was met by an acquisition by none other than search engine giant Google, which snapped up the company in 2006. Since then the site’s popularity has grown at an astonishing rate and is now the 4th most visited site on the Internet.

Co-founder Chad Hurley recently posted a video marking 3 years since Google bought the site, in which he revealed that YouTube now receives over a billion hits every day.

YouTube hasn’t been without its troubles, however. The ease of sharing home-made videos has made it a great way of creating funny or compelling content for others to see, sometimes thrusting unwitting individuals into the global spotlight. Some have taken legal action against those who put videos of them up, whilst others have landed themselves in hot water for videoing themselves breaking the law.

If you don't recognise this still then you don't spend long enough on the Internet.

And it’s not all self-made content on YouTube. There are TV show clips, music videos, fan videos and more – all of which draw lots of viewers. The problem is, not all of it is sanctioned by the copyright owners and so an ongoing war is being waged against infringement. The smart companies are getting in on the game by using such videos as a way to advertise their products, and even the Goverment’s getting in on it.

YouTube’s finding it hard to make a profit – serving up millions upon millions of videos is an expensive business, as is pacifying the video and music industries – but what we can say is this: the people have spoken, they love YouTube and want more, more, more.

Let’s face it, a day at the office would be far less exciting if it wasn’t for the ‘Tube. We leave you with some of our favourites…

Star Wars Kid – It may be humiliating to have millions of people watch you play Darth Maul, but we’ve watched it, and can’t un-watch it!

Numa Numa – This probably did more good for the song’s sales than it did the street cred of the fella in the video.

Sneezing Baby Panda – For some reason baby pandas don’t come along very often, which is perhaps why the mother looks a little… surprised?

Maru the Box Cat – There are zillions of cat videos on YouTube, but Maru is one of our favourites – a box-loving cat from Japan. Odd, but extremely cute.

And don’t forget, you can be part of the YouTube craze by making your own videos.