Killer App?

With Google's prowess, online videos -- arguably, the Internet's fast-rising killer app* -- now are searchable, provide a new venue for untold new heights of advertising revenues, gain legitimacy, and make a good thing even better.

Thus making even more interesting these projections from eMarketer that video is the Internet's killer app, confirming John Chambers' (Cisco/CSCO CEO) comments (stated again earlier this week at a Cisco sales conference)...

More people than ever are watching more online video more frequently. But despite the surge in viewers and available content, the medium isstill nascent. A number of issues must be settled in order for theadvertising market to develop, according to eMarketer's report," Internet Video Audience. eMarketer estimates that over one-third of the US population will have viewed video on the Internet at least once per month on average during 2006. By 2010, the US Internet video audience will have grown 45.8% to 157 million, up from 107.7 million this year." For all the clips playing, online video advertising currently comprises just 2.6% ($410 million) of total Internet advertising spending ($16.4 billion) this year. Video still has a long way to go. Clips are still fuzzy or halting online. Also, because there is no search engine for video, users can't navigate to videos advertisers might be sponsoring."

In light of these comments, does the marriage between YouTube and Google/GOOG still seem sudden or ill-thought? Or expensive?

*Oh, and so long as I mention killer apps, there comes this video on YouTube (natch)...


Watch closely...
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist