Google Dominates Online Video, In Hunt For Hulu

By unique viewer count (per comScore) YouTube is more than two and a half times the size of the next largest US video site, Vevo. It also sees more than five times the monthly minutes of Vevo. Only Hulu approaches YouTube in terms of time spent or engagement. However Hulu is the most heavily and successfully monetized video site, with almost 20 percent of online video ad impressions.

Google, the owner of YouTube, is one of a handful of companies, including Yahoo, Amazon and DirectTV, that are rumored to be going after Hulu. The anticipated, competitive bidding could fetch as much as $2 billion for the site. Google purchased YouTube in October 2006 for $1.65 billion in an all-stock transaction.

Hulu would help Google in numerous ways. From an advertising standpoint its safer and more attractive to brands than YouTube. Hulu also provides broad access to premium content, which Google has begun to acquire.

If Google were the winner of the “Hulu auction,” despite the plethora of video destinations and ad networks you see above, it would likely face another round of intense regulatory scrutiny because the company would potentially own both the largest video site and the most successfully monetized.