YouTube's latest effort to generate and share advertising revenues from more grassroots videos hinges on Madison Avenue's willingness to take a giant leap of faith.

Google's wealth creation is unprecedented in the five years since it went public. Although its $150 billion market cap is nearly half what it once was, it has generated massive value for other companies. But Google is vulnerable just because it is thinly spread in a rapidly changing marketplace where rivals are eating away at the edges and fighting for turf.

Fear of diminishing returns from digital distribution is fueling Hollywood studio ire with Redbox's $1 daily rental of new movie releases in what is shaping up to be a major test of new media economics.

While plodding through the recessionary sludge of the past year, consumers have unwittingly crossed the digital divide, leaving many media companies scrambling to keep pace with them.