EON

Toronto – Video sharing website YouTube said Tuesday it will link to online commerce sites, a means of obtaining new cash for Google, which bought YouTube two years ago to 1.65 billion dollars.

Links have been discreetly installed under the banner of YouTube videos to invite users to visit the online retailers Amazon.com and iTunes or find music, books, DVDs or other products in connection with the videos.

“This is only the beginning of a platform for online commerce that is large and viable for users and partners YouTube,” says a message posted on the site.

The site intends to “offer products useful and relevant to an audience in both large and focused, and generate additional profits” through such publicity, says YouTube, which has gradually expand this platform to new partners.

Google “has spent a lot of money” in buying YouTube “and it is normal to expect a return on investment,” said analyst Rob Enderle, questioned by AFP.

“The challenge is to do that without scaring users” YouTube, pursues this analyst Enderle Group, based in Silicon Valley in California (West). “This will be a delicate pas de deux”, he said.

Google wants to avoid making people flee, usually including a versatile and fringe could sanction the presence of advertising on YouTube preferring sites like Hulu competitors or DailyMotion.