It didn’t take too long for Google to put YouTube to work.
A white-label version of the recently acquired video-sharing
platform figured prominently in British Sky Broadcasting plans to provide a Sky-branded version of Google’s search,
advertising, communications and video products to its broadband
customers.
In what the companies called a “wide-ranging set of multi-year
agreements” in a statement, Google will also provide search
across all of Sky’s Web properties. Google and Sky said they would
share revenue generated by sponsored links.
The Sky-branded version of YouTube will, like its American counterpart,
allow users to edit, upload and share their own video content. Users
will also be able to upload and download videos from their mobile
devices.
The deal marks the first time Google has licensed its video-sharing
platform to a third party. But the Mountain View, Calif., company
frequently partners with third parties who want to re-brand its suite
of applications at the cost of shared advertising revenue.
For example, Google offers a product called Google Apps for Your Domains, which includes tools, such as Web-based e-mail, instant
messaging, voice calling and collaborative calendaring, for communicating and
collaborating in the enterprise.
When Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced the company’s third-quarter
results earlier this year, he credited much of the company’s
success to Google’s partnerships, including
Intuit, eBay and Sky parent-company News Corp.
“Partnership is a way of doing business for us,” Schmidt said at the
time.
Looking forward, Sky and Google said they plan to explore
opportunities to provide further services, such as Google’s VoIP
telephony services, as well as consider
future forms of Web, TV and mobile advertising.
