YouTube expands into games sales
Video streaming site set to begin offering titles for sale as part of Google's wider move into the videogames industry
YouTube is set to start selling videogames and experiment with new advertising formats to grow revenue, according to Reuters.
The Google-owned video streaming website already allows viewers to buy songs from music videos they watch with links to either Amazon's MP3 store or the Apple iTunes store. However, now YouTube users will also be able to buy videogames, such as EA's Spore through the Amazon link.
This is part of an ongoing effort to monetise the site, which Google paid USD 1.65 billion for in 2006. Analysts at Piper Jaffray Research estimated that YouTube would earn about USD 200 million in revenue in 2009, and until now the site has mainly relied on advertising sales as its main source of income.
"There'll be lots of different solutions for lots of different problems," Shishir Mehrotra, YouTube director of product management, said in an interview. "We've tested a lot of things already, and we're going to be testing more in the future. Some will work, some won't."
Google further announced the launch of AdSense for Games, a program that integrates video advertisements into web-based games. The search-engine specialist claimed to be working with game developers and publishers including Konami, Playfish, Zynga, Demand Media, games network Mochi Media, as well as beta advertisers such as Esurance, Sprint, and Sony Pictures.
The company acquired Adscape Media last year as part of its move into the in-game ads business.
Google also recently launched a 3D virtual world entitled Lively, which the company later revealed it would be opening up as a platform for game developers.