Pro content may
trump amateur vids

In terms of ad revenue in '09, one-year-old Hulu might give YouTube a run for its money, MediaBuyerPlanner reports.

Unlike the older video site, Hulu streams primarily professional content, including network TV shows, clips and films. If its ad revenue manages to surpass that of YouTube's, it could demonstrate to other social networking sites just how difficult it is to squeeze ROI from amateur content.

Digital media research group Screen Digest says Hulu's ad revenue is growing more quickly than YouTube's; in '08, YouTube is expected to generate about $100 million in the US, compared with $70 million at Hulu, but next year both are expected to pull about $180 million Stateside, writes the Financial Times.

Analyst Arash Amel at Screen Digest, says YouTube is in a difficult position. In the next 18 months, it should become clear whether Google's $1.65 billion acquisition of the site was "just an expensive mistake."

"Advertisers prefer to spend their money with well-known brands," says Tracey Scheppach, video innovations director at Starcom.

While its ad revenue quickens pace, Hulu remains far behind YouTube in terms of unique visitors, with 6 million uniques in the US in September, compared to 83 million for YouTube (per Nielsen).

YouTube makes about half its revenues in the US; Hulu has not yet launched beyond the States.

Last week YouTube announced the addition of sponsored search ads. Advertisers can bid to promote themselves via YouTube Sponsored Videos; ads appear on the right-hand side of YouTube's search results with a small image and some text.

It also began streaming professional content. Alongside Hulu and iTunes, YouTube began hosting select Sesame Street segments last week. Earlier this month, YouTube announced MGM would avail full-length movies on a couple of its channels, while CBS began offering complete episodes. In October, Wayne Wang premiered an independent film on the video site; and President Elect Barack Obama has appointed YouTube as the medium of choice for his weekly fireside chats.

The addition of such content is an attempt to position itself as a force in the commercial online video space — not just as a place for watching amateur-style home videos, Wired surmised.