There is tons of coverage on the whole Google buying YouTube thing and I figured everyone would be interested in a quick summary of what various sources are saying on the whole thing. The good, bad and ugly so to speak.

TechCrunch – Is Fox a Factor?

A source inside of Fox, which owns MySpace, tells us that they were surprised that Google was aggressively pursuing a deal with YouTube, given Google’s nearly $1 billion advertising relationship with MySpace. MySpace views YouTube as a competitor, and recent Hitwise data shows Myspace Video quickly catching up to YouTube.

Fox is in a very unique position vis-à-vis this deal. News Corp chief operating officer Peter Chernin recently told investors that 60-70% of YouTube traffic comes from MySpace. While direct integration with Google could certainly make up for part of this traffic were MySpace to shut off YouTube access, it would still be a huge blow. And Fox is also the owner of much of the copyrighted material contained on YouTube.

The New York Times – Dot-Com Boom

A profitless Web site started by three 20-somethings after a late-night dinner party is sold for more than a billion dollars, instantly turning dozens of its employees into paper millionaires. It sounds like a tale from the late 1990’s dot-com bubble, but it happened yesterday.

“If you believe it’s the future of television, it’s clearly worth $1.6 billion,” Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, said of YouTube. “If you believe something else, you could write down maybe it’s not worth much at all.”

DSquared – 10 Unanswered Questions

5. The Google Press Release states “This afternoon, we announced that we are acquiring YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. YouTube will operate independently following the close of the transaction, which is expected in the fourth quarter of this year.” Why is this the first company that Google has ever kept independent?

Looks like the transition, no matter how transparent is making some serious waves. Will YouTube’s original idea be lost through this? I doubt it, but the comparisons between the sale and the Dot-Com Boom are both annoying and scary.

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