W6 Discussion: Case Study on Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit

Chapter 10: Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit: 10-3e YouTube Book Title: Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases Printed By: Kennisha Holloman ([email protected]) © 2019 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

10-3e YouTube

In 2006 Google acquired video sharing site YouTube for $1.65 billion. YouTube allows users

to upload and share original videos and has become the second most visited of all websites

(Google.com is the most visited site in the world). Everyone from global corporations to

consumers uses YouTube to share videos ranging from video blogs to parodies, to

corporate messages to news events. By selling video advertising slots before and during

videos, as well as placing banner ads in free space on the site, Google has made millions in

advertising revenue. Additionally, YouTube content creators can share in advertising profits

from their videos through YouTube’s Partner Program, allowing popular “YouTubers” to

make careers out of their channels.

Although YouTube opened up new opportunities in marketing and entertainment, it has had

its share of controversy. YouTube has been sued by organizations such as Viacom for

copyright infringement after finding copyrighted content on YouTube’s site. YouTube’s

Community Guidelines specifically direct: “Only upload videos that you made or that you’re

authorized to use.” However, not all users heed the warning. To detect and eliminate

copyrighted material, YouTube enables users to “flag” videos for copyright infringement. If,

upon review, the flag is found to be valid, the offending video is removed. YouTube also

provides a more automated system called Content ID for certain situations, which

automatically compares newly uploaded videos to a database of copyrighted material and

notifies the copyright holder if a match is found. Google believes providing tools to enable

self-interested copyright owners to protect their property is the best way to police YouTube,

arguing it is simply not feasible for the company to screen the more than 400 hours of video

uploaded to the site every minute.

Chapter 10: Google: The Drive to Balance Privacy with Profit: 10-3e YouTube Book Title: Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases Printed By: Kennisha Holloman ([email protected]) © 2019 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

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