• Washington Post, Tuesday, May 2, 2006 11:15 AM

Although it's only five months old, YouTube.com is attracting five million users daily, people who are either viewing or posting the two-minute amateur video clips that are seemingly so compelling. Especially among the young, who are its main audience at the moment, YouTube has developed into an alternative to over-the-air television. The site already features a library of 35,000 clips, with more pouring in daily. Visitors to the site can ad comments to the clips, resulting in a sort of nonscientific ratings system. The result is that some contributors to YouTube.com are quickly developing a celebrity-like following. No surprise, then, that a number of major companies, from AOL to MSN, are launching sites that can do essentially what YouTube.com does. However, the buzz on the first mover has kept it cool and way ahead of the pack. "Marketers are already interested in looking at how to invest in it," says Lucian James, president of Agenda Inc., a brand marketing firm. "It comes at a perfect time when brands are looking beyond the 30-second commercial and are looking for new ways to connect to their audience."

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