History

YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal.[4] Prior to PayPal, Hurley studied design at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Chen and Karim studied computer science together at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[5] The domain name "YouTube.com" was activated on February 15, 2005,[6] and the website was developed over the following months. The creators offered the public a preview of the site in May 2005, and six months later, YouTube made its official debut.
YouTube's current headquarters in San Bruno
YouTube's current headquarters in San Bruno

Like many technology start-ups, YouTube was started as an angel-funded enterprise in a small and inexpensive office or garage. In November of 2005, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital invested an initial $3.5 million;[7] additionally, Roelof Botha, partner of the firm and former CFO of PayPal, joined the YouTube board of directors. In April 2006, Sequoia put an additional $8 million into the company, which had experienced a boom of popularity and growth in just its first few months.[8]

During the summer of 2006, YouTube was one of the fastest-growing websites on the World Wide Web,[9] and was ranked as the 5th most popular website on Alexa, far outpacing even MySpace's growth.[10] According to a July 16, 2006 survey, 100 million clips are viewed daily on YouTube, with an additional 65,000 new videos uploaded per 24 hours. The site has almost 20 million visitors each month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings,[11] where around 44% are female, 56% male, and the 12- to 17-year-old age group is dominant.[12] YouTube's pre-eminence in the online video market is staggering. According to the website Hitwise.com, YouTube commands up to 64% of the UK online video market.[13]
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Google purchases YouTube for $1.65 billion

On October 9, 2006, it was announced that the company would be purchased by Google for US$1.65 billion in stock. The purchase agreement between Google and YouTube came after YouTube presented three agreements with media companies in an attempt to escape the threat of copyright-infringement lawsuits. YouTube will continue to operate independently, and the company's 67 employees and its co-founders will continue working within the company.[14] The deal to acquire YouTube closed on November 13. It is Google's biggest purchase to date.[15]

Political campaigning

Politcal candidates for the 2008 Presidential election have been using YouTube as an outlet for advertising their candidacy. Voters can easily look up propaganda and make videos supporting or demoting presidential candidates of their own, specifically those for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.