Amazon Wants To Turn Up The Heat On YouTube

According to a new report, Amazon is getting serious about competing with YouTube. It’s not that the company is thinking about launching a new video service that will be a YouTube clone of sorts. Instead, it appears that the company wants to pull advertising dollars away from YouTube and bring them in for its existing video service.

Amazon does have a program called Amazon Video Direct. Anyone can use it to upload videos which are then available for rent or purchase through Amazon Prime or for free streaming with ads. Amazon also owns Twitch which is a very popular game streaming platform.

Reports suggest that the digital video advertising market in the U.S. is worth over $13 billion with YouTube accounting for the biggest chunk of 21.7 percent. Amazon wants to tilt the numbers in its favor, it seems.

CNBC reports that Amazon has been taking meetings about launching programs to bring more advertisers to its video platforms. It feels that this will make it a stronger competitor for YouTube. Amazon has reportedly held several meetings where it has suggested that it’s open to launching more advertiser-friendly initiatives.

Some sources have suggested that Amazon is open to giving advertisers more data on what viewers like to watch and what their preferences are online. Another program that’s on the table would pair vetted video producers with companies to create sponsored content of which Amazon will take a cut.

Amazon hasn’t commented on this report as yet so it’s unclear what the company’s intentions are regarding this.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Web
Tags: Amazon, YouTube