YouTube has been the undisputed king of video-sharing for years and, although many have tried, no other company has been able to compete… until now. If you take a look at Facebook’s recent video statistics, you’ll see that the service has been rapidly closing the gap between itself and YouTube in terms of both uploads and views. It’s not all that surprising that the only company capable of taking on Google in this area is Facebook.
Google and Facebook were facing off for ad dollars here this week, with both companies operating out of huge beachside booths to pitch marketers on their offerings. Google is the undisputed king of video, given its ownership of YouTube, but Facebook is catching up and has a much more diverse set of assets. One agency executive observed: “You look at Facebook and see Instagram, Whatsapp and Oculus Rift, and you’re starting to see how they all come together. It must be very scary for Google to see that.” Hotel chain Marriott had a booth at the event to show attendees 360-degree views of foreign cities in virtual reality using Facebook’s Oculus glasses. Still, Google has a strong claim on the hearts of millennials. Pinterest executives told On the Money that youngsters are creating boards imagining themselves as being famous. Their view of fame, however, isn’t walking Hollywood’s red carpet but becoming a star on YouTube — something they can achieve in their basement.
