Developing World Is a Profit Sink For Web Companies 203
The NYTimes is running a piece on the dilemma faced by Web entrepreneurs, particularly in social media companies: the developing world is spiking traffic but not contributing much to revenues. The basic disconnect when Web 2.0 business models meet Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East is that countries there are not good prospects for the advertisers who pay the bills. "Call it the International Paradox. Web companies that rely on advertising are enjoying some of their most vibrant growth in developing countries. But those are also the same places where it can be the most expensive to operate, since Web companies often need more servers to make content available to parts of the world with limited bandwidth. And in those countries, online display advertising is least likely to translate into results. ... Last year, Veoh, a video-sharing site operated from San Diego, decided to block its service from users in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, citing the dim prospects of making money and the high cost of delivering video there. 'I believe in free, open communications,' Dmitry Shapiro, the company's chief executive, said. 'But these people are so hungry for this content. They sit and they watch and watch and watch. The problem is they are eating up bandwidth, and it's very difficult to derive revenue from it.' ... Perhaps no company is more in the grip of the international paradox than YouTube, which [an analyst] recently estimated could lose $470 million in 2009, in part because of the high cost of delivering billions of videos each month."
1947-08-15 (Score:5, Funny)
I was wondering from a long time whey videos on the BBC site cannot be accessed from here in India.
15 August 1947 [wikipedia.org] is the reason.
Re:1947-08-15 (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Bad business model, perhaps? (Score:3, Funny)
Are we still on web2.0?
The web is just about the only thing that has a longer release cycle than debian.
Youtube too big to fail! (Score:2, Funny)
Perhaps no company is more in the grip of the international paradox than YouTube, which [an analyst] recently estimated could lose $470 million in 2009, in part because of the high cost of delivering billions of videos each month.
We just can't let this happen. Youtube is too big to fail. Just think of the impact it would have on the economy.
We must support them with a government bailout.
Re:In fact a censorship (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, I know.. it costs money.
But I just started thinking Internet is getting amazing again. The fact that I can stream a political discussion from the U.S. or access free e-books from Europe here in Hong Kong is AMAZING.
How can we resolve the money issue without breaking this?
Yes! For many years I was a stalwart member of the Islamic Jihad. Then one day, I saw that Youtube video where the cat grabs the string tied to the the ceiling fan and then spins around until he can hold on no longer, and he flies off against the wall. It gave me an entirely new perspective on Western culture and the common struggles faced by our two civilizations.
Canada deserves Internet access too! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Bad business model, perhaps? (Score:1, Funny)
The web is just about the only thing that has a longer release cycle than debian.
Duke Nukem?