The Googlification of Viral Video

“It’s Official, Google Snaps Up YouTube” read my email alert from MediaWeek. The price tag: $1.65 billion. And so the rumblings that began merely days ago ended with today’s announcement. What a gyp. Normally, with deals of this magnitude, the rumor mill begins weeks or months in advance and we have plenty of time to scrutinize, criticize and otherwise pontificate before the deal actually happens.

Naturally, both Google and YouTube promise to retain the YouTube brand identity while enhancing the user experience … blah, blah, blah. The critics’ arguments will invariably include how much Google can improve on a good thing, how much advertising will forced upon the community and how well YouTube can hold onto both its stand-out brand and its loyal user base with the behemoth at the post.

Alright so maybe the scrutiny hasn't ended. Rather, it's just begun …

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