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Apple-YouTube deal: farfetched or not?

Jan Kabili
Updated ·1 min read

Everyone, including the New York Times, is talking about the novel suggestion from GigaOM's Robert Young that Apple buy YouTube. Young threw out the following reasons for Steve to get out his checkbook and snag YouTube:

  • It would give Apple a place (well, another place) among the top 50 web properties. YouTube was ranked as 40th top-visited site in July by comScore Media Matrix.

  • It would be a way for Apple to tap into the growing online ad revenue market.

  • It would empower the video iPod. "The online video phenom can be to the video iPod what iTunes was to the audio iPod. It's not difficult to imagine mass consumers, especially tweens, downloading their playlists of YouTube 'video snacks' and viewing them on the go with their video iPods."

  • The promotional synergy between YouTube and iTunes could be significant, especially if YouTube is able to get music videos from record labels and offer them for free.

  • It would make Steve a social media mogul (as if he weren't already).

What do you think? Is an Apple-YouTube deal sci-fi or possibility?