History of YouTube – When and How it Became That Popular
There’s no denying that just about everyone knows what “YouTube” is today. Even though it’s many people’s main source of entertainment, it wasn’t always this way. Younger generations are surprised that “being a YouTuber” wasn’t a paying job until 2007. If you’ve ever wondered how the video-giant came to be a multi-billion dollar company, keep on reading.
How did Everything start?
On Valentine’s Day in 2006, three friends named Steven Chen, Jawed Karim, and Chad Hurley registered the now-famous website. The three gentlemen met during their employment at the e-commerce company PayPal.
So, what was their motive behind the video-sharing platform? Well, just that! They wanted the everyday person to be able to share their home movies with their friends and family. Believe it or not, this is how many YouTubers actually found their fame.
Hannah Hart was just like you and me until the day she uploaded a cooking video onto the new website. She was showing a loved one how to cook a delicious meal all the while Hart was intoxicated. She called the bit “My Drunk Kitchen.”
It didn’t take long for videos like Hannah’s to go viral. Hart was able to create an entire career out of the happy accident and eventually released a cookbook!
Gaining Traction
A few months after the site was registered, it was opened on a limited basis to the public. The beta site was drawing in around 30,000 viewers per day, which at the time seemed like a lot. Looking back, a single video with 30,000 views is seen as relatively unsuccessful. Little did they know that years later, sites like https://www.yourcheapviews.com/ would allow users to buy YouTube views.
The website officially launched in the middle of December 2005. By that time, there were over two million people visiting YouTube each day! Just a few weeks later, those numbers climbed to 25 million views every day.
A little over a year after its public launch, there were already 25 million videos available to watch and 20,000 uploaded each day. As of the summer of 2006, it was home to more than 100 million daily uploads and counting.
Hurley, Chen, and Karim didn’t expect the growth that they received so quickly. This created a lot of issues on its own, especially when it came to how much the servers could handle.
No Money In, No Money Out
Even though there was an unfathomable amount of content being uploaded, the website wasn’t initially making any money. Because people were using copyrighted music, movie clips, and more, they needed to think fast on their feet and find a buyer.
The same year that YouTube came to fruition, Google attempted to release “Google Video” but it ultimately failed due to a lack of traffic. This was when the search engine giant spent a casual $1.65 billion in stock.
Within two years of ownership, Google partnered with MGM, the movie company, and allowed full-length movies to be played on the site as long as they were accompanied by ads. To this day, Google still owns the video-sharing platform, and ads are more prevalent than ever before.
The Partner Program
In 2007, YouTube decided to open up what they would call the “Partner Program.” This program allowed video creators to be paid for their work. YouTube would allow people with 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 valid views to apply.
Upon approval, the partner would then have ads on their videos. They would make a percentage of the earnings, and YouTube would take their fair share as well. In November 2008, pre-roll ads were integrated and are now a staple of the revenue.
How Much YouTubers Make
There are a lot of things that go into account when it comes to how much a Youtuber can make. For instance, whether or not they have sponsors for the video or are just making money based on monetization through the partner program.
Thanks to such websites like we’re able to get a look into how much a Youtuber potentially earns monthly and early. While the numbers range quite a bit, you can usually get a good idea based on a creator’s CPM rate.
CPM is what someone will be paid for every 1,000 views. For one user, it may be $2 and for another, it may be $8. You can break this down further into how much one would make per single view.
It’s a surprise to many to learn that the number of subscribers you have doesn’t play a role in how much you’ll be bringing in each month. While having more subscribers initially gives you more views, it won’t affect what you’re paid. YouTubers can expect a check once a month, delivered the following month. For example, you’d receive June’s earnings in July.
Out with The Old, In with The New
As the social media giant continues to improve on their content and the website in general. In 2014 60 frames-per-second videos were launched. Less than a year later, 360-degree content was approved.
There was a paid-for version of the website called YouTube Red, which is now known as YouTube Premium. By paying for this, you won’t receive any ads, and you can play the videos offline.
Another major change that took place within the company was when they hired one of the most popular women in advertising: Susan Wojcicki. She was no stranger, as she did work in Google’s advertising field and is the genius behind AdSense.
What’s Next?
While we don’t know where the infamous site will go in the future, it’s exciting to wait and see what they’ll do. Creators continue to pump out an unbelievable amount of videos every day, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
