YouTube marks fifth anniversary with new commemorative channel

Online video community site, YouTube, has launched the "YouTube Five Year" channel to mark the fifth anniversary launch of its beta version in May 2005.

Often credited for democratising the Internet through user-generated content, YouTube has entered its fifth year this month with over 2 billion views per day – almost double the number of prime-time viewers attracted by America’s top three television networks.

The YouTube Five Year channel features the "My YouTube Story" project – a series of videos about individual experiences on how YouTube has impacted their lives. Television host and comedian Conan O’Brien, iconic computer scientist Vint Cerf and American journalist Katie Couric are among those selected to curate the project.

Originally created by Chad Hurley and Steve Chen as a way to upload and share video files, YouTube has evolved as its viewership grows. Google was quick to identify its success, and acquired the brand in October 2006 for $US1.65 million. In November 2007, CNN partnered with YouTube to deliver debates during the US Presidential campaigns. Its began offering high definition content in 1080p resolution in November 2009, expanding to 720p in December 2008.

According to statistics firm, Website Monitoring, the number of advertisers using display ads on YouTube in the past year increased ten-fold, with 94 of Advertising Age’s top 100 advertisers having run campaigns on YouTube and the Google Content Network.

A person currently spends 15 minutes on average a day on YouTube, but its creators are targeting TV’s five hours per day grip on viewers.

Google recently announced the launch of Google TV, a web-based platform that will allow users to watch various content, including YouTube, directly from a Sony television or through a Logitech set-top box.

YouTube has attracted its fair share of copyright lawsuits. It has been in litigation with Viacom over copyright infringements since 2007.

Among the top 25 YouTube Videos that made history is "Yes We Can" (Barack Obama music video), Judson Laipply’s "Evolution of Dance" and video footage of Neda Adha-Soltan shot to death at the June 20 2009 protests in Iran.

The ten most-watched videos of all time in Australia:

1. Free Hugs Campaign (57 million views globally)
2. Aerosmith – I don’t wanna miss a thing (56 million views globally)
3. ACDC – Thunderstock (33 million views globally)
4. eBay, Weird Al Yankovic (26 million views globally)
5. Snuggle Bunny – Cutie (26 million views globally)
6. Katy Perry – I kissed a girl (24 million views globally)
7. ACDC – Back in Black (23 million views globally)
8. communitychannel – How to fake a six pack (20 million views globally)
9. Dramatic Look (20 million views globally)
10. Monster Shark (18 million views globally)

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