Youtube has been seeing new online video platforms, offering functions and experience similar to what it does. More video streaming sites and apps have made their way to audiences, which means competition for Youtube. But the head of the Google-owned platform seems to have remained undeterred.
Susan Wojcicki, CEO of Youtube, has spoken of future plans for the online video giant. In a Brainstorm Tech Conference organised by Fortune Magazine, and held in Aspen, Colorado, Wojcicki said she is not worried about other companies' foray into the online video industry. Snapchat, Vessel and Facebook all have taken in a considerable amount of views and audience size.
Wojcicki stressed what makes the video platform she is in charge of different from all the others.
"We want our users to engage. We want them to not be channel surfing," she said in Fortune Magazine. "We want them to say, 'I saw a video, I cared about that video, I commented on that video, and I continued watching it.'"
She noted that sites such as Facebook, for instance, plays videos on the newsfeed, whether the user actually wants to watch it or not. Youtube audiences, she pointed out, deliberately seek the videos they watch. The views generated by videos posted on Youtube result from interested parties who really looked for the videos, and not because they have been playing on the feed.
Youtube's business operations head, Robert Kyncl, has previously remarked that it will take years before Facebook and Youtube face off as competitors in the online video industry. Like Wojcicki, Kyncl expressed that the video platform is not shaken by competition.
Recently, Facebook has been actively building its own video-sharing and viewing features. Like Youtube, it has begun monetizing videos uploaded in its site. It has reportedly gained 4 billion monthly views for its videos.
Wojcicki is optimistic about Youtube's growth, saying she is quite happy with what she is seeing on the video platform. She has claimed that Youtube's views and audiences are growing continuously. Youtube is also reported to be getting into the music streaming business. The new platform is called Music Key.
