Two kings get together
Source: The Economist
Oct 12th 2006 (Adapted)

"Chad and Steve remind me of Larry and Sergey," said Eric Schmidt, father figure and chief executive of Google, on October 9th. Google, founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, was announcing its purchase, for $1.65 billion in shares, of YouTube, founded by Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. Messrs Page and Brin created an internet phenomenon with their search engine and refuted conventional wisdom by proving that search could make money when paired with advertising.

During the past year Messrs Hurley and Chen have created another phenomenon: a simple, fun website to which anybody can upload video clips in order to share them. Every day YouTube fans upload 65,000 videos and watch 100m. Admittedly, YouTube has yet to prove that advertising can make video clips as lucrative as search results. But Google, too, only found a way to "monetise" its service after it had become popular. "This really reminds me of Google just a few years ago," said Mr Brin, to drive the point home.