• Broadcasting & Cable, Wednesday, December 3, 2008 11:15 AM

One of Google's stated goals for 2008 was to turn YouTube into a moneymaking machine. To that end, big G has unveiled new content partnerships, ad units, even a new search advertising system on the video-sharing site this year. Of course, 2008 is now ending, and we're still waiting for the killer app that will turn YouTube into Google's next cash cow.

So what's the plan for 2009? At a recent industry conference, Jordan Hoffner, YouTube's director of content partnerships, said the video giant would capitalize on its market dominance by building on what it started in 2008. Hoffner said the company's number one priority is to get the premium content from its partners in front of viewers. User-generated content will be a key driver of that traffic, he said. "The companies say they want to be away from the cat on the skateboard," Hoffner said, "but it is your friend, because the cat on the skateboard is what gets you your traffic. The trick is, how do you get the premium content in front of the audiences watching the UGC."

YouTube will connect users to professional content more often by leveraging its video fingerprinting technology. For example, a three-year-old best-of Monty Python DVD set went from being the ten thousandth most purchased item on Amazon.com to No. 5 one week after the British comedy group started posting videos on YouTube with referral links to Amazon.

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