Google has not turned YouTube into a major profit center yet. YouTube was a major expenditure for Google and analysts who track Google expect that the YouTube traffic will be converted into company profits. There is now testing on the YouTube mobile site to do just that:

“…You may have noticed that we started running a test of display ads on select pages of the YouTube mobile site in the U.S. and Japan. This is our first step in testing mobile advertising for YouTube — it will give you a new way to interact with content on the go, while allowing us to learn how video viewers engage with mobile advertising. Our test advertisers will also have an additional branding tool at their disposal and the opportunity to reach the millions of people who visit YouTube every day on their phones.”

link: This is a test — ads on YouTube’s mobile site

In her post, Christine Tsai, the YouTube Marketing Manager, is saying in the nicest way possible that the free, unencumbered use of YouTube is coming to an end. Soon Google will want some of your time and your advertising clicks.

Catherine Forsythe