YouTube, the world’s most popular video sharing site, said it will start sharing advertising cash with users who upload the most popular clips of everything from skateboarding dogs to dancing babies.
The video site, which is owned by Web search giant Google Inc, said it will extend its YouTube partnership program to allow individuals to make money when their videos are deemed eligible based on the number of views and how widely they are shared with other users.
YouTube has been criticized by some Google investors, who complain that the site has failed to capitalize financially on its immense popularity.
Until now, users who regularly produced videos could earn revenue from YouTube if they formally applied to be members of the partnership program, which YouTube said has earned some video producers “thousands of dollars.”
Under the new system, if a video becomes popular YouTube will email the maker an “enable revenue sharing” message.
Executives declined to quantify how popular a video would need to be for its owner receive the email.
YouTube said it will sell ads against the clip only if the user agrees to do so.
Photo by YouTube.