YouTube’s new CEO is a friend of the crypto industry

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New YouTube CEO Neil Mohan has excited crypto enthusiasts that blockchain-enabled technology could soon become a feature of the video site.

Little is known about the executive, who joined in March 2008 after helping sell his ad tech company DoubleClick to Google for $3.1 billion. One of the few one-on-one interviews with Mohan is from August 2021.

Posts like Decryptare are now pointing to a post from last February in which YouTube’s then-chief product officer, Mohan, claimed that non-fungible tokens held incredible potential for its bustling creator economy in a preview of new products and features to come. come to the platform.

We believe new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans, he wrote at the time.

Giving fans a verifiable way to own videos, photos, artwork, and even unique experiences from their favorite creators could be a compelling prospect for creators and their audiences.

How YouTube challenges TikTok in a short video

Enabling digital payments has already generated a lot of interest after Elon Musk revealed plans to integrate payments into Twitter and reward influencers for content, a business model launched by YouTubeback in 2007.

Mohan takes over from veteran CEO Susan Wojcicki at a critical time for YouTube, the world’s largest ad-based video-on-demand service with more than 2 billion monthly active users.

Viral phenomenon ByteDances TikTok is reshaping the social media landscape with a focus on sharing short user-generated videos that have become a threat to established names. Other rivals, including Musks Twitter, may also be throwing themselves into YouTube territory.

Given that the popular streaming platform traditionally sells ads that run during creator-targeted long-form videos, finding a way to monetize content no longer than 60 seconds has been particularly difficult, just ask to the Meta execs tasked with rolling out the Instagram Reels.

In September, YouTube responded with its own bespoke concept called YouTube Shorts. Since ads only run between videos, the company opted to share 45% of revenue based on their share of total views, rather than the traditional 55%.

Section 230 legal challenge could upset the industry

Monetizing short-form video content amid a wider exodus of social media users to TikTok is just one challenge Mohan faces, albeit one that is partially within his control.

This week, the Supreme Court is expected to begin hearing arguments in Gonzalez v. Google that could remove the protections enshrined in US law. Under Section 230, digital media are seen as neutral platforms rather than responsible publishers of content on their sites, often described as a free get out of jail card for the industry.

YouTube itself is at the heart of the debate. The family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old Californian woman murdered in the 2015 Islamic State terrorist attack in Paris, accuses the Google subsidiary of illegally recommending videos on its platform.

Article 230 is fundamental for the Internet. It protects freedom of expression and helps platforms tackle harmful content more effectively, Mohanin January wrote. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Despite the various challenges YouTube faces, outgoing CEO Wojcicki said Mohan would be a great leader with a wonderful sense of the company as well as its creators and users.

YouTube’s most exciting opportunities are ahead, and Neal is the right person to lead us, she wrote last week.

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