Yahoo’s YouTube competitor delayed, but will launch this summer

Is there room for another YouTube? Yahoo thinks so

Yahoo has been in talks to launch a YouTube-like service for a while, but contract issues have caused delays. Yahoo’s video service would allow users to create their own channels, host their own videos, and embed their content anywhere. Yahoo is preparing their final product and hopes to launch its YouTube rival this summer.

One issue Yahoo was having with their contract negotiations, centered on ownership. The language of the contract stated that Yahoo would be given license to any videos shared on Tumblr. And as one producer stated, “anyone who’s done a content deal knows that would never fly;” which suggest that Yahoo is still very much trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of how their video service will function and prosper.

Yahoo has promised more generous revenue-sharing deals, or fixed ad rates that are quite a bit higher than YouTube is offering. Many YouTube creators have animosity for their revenue split, whereby Google takes 45% of their ad revenue. Yahoo is offering a spit that is in favor of creators.

Yahoo is also offering higher ad rates; said to be 50-100% higher than YouTube’s average net rate, according to Ad Age. Also, those who sign a contract with Yahoo will receive a publishing dashboard that has the ability to push content across the Yahoo homepage, Tumblr, all other Yahoo sites, as well as non-Yahoo sites (since content will be embeddable).

The main upside to the Yahoo! project

The best part about the Yahoo service: they are not asking users to remain exclusive in their contracts, so creators will be able to post to both YouTube and Yahoo. Yahoo simply hopes with their incentives, creators will post to their service first, allowing them to have a greater foothold in the world of “viral videos.”

If you are looking to establish a presence in video hosting Yahoo may be a viable option, but if you already have a strong YouTube presence, the incentives Yahoo offer may not be enough to make it worth your time. The final version of the Yahoo contract will tell us a bit more about how they intend to promote content and who will retain the rights of anything shared. If they can work out the contractual issues, it may be worth a look.