Schmidt: YouTube might just be a loss-leader
Loudmouth Mark Cuban mockingly characterizes Google — which still can't figure out how to make money off YouTube — as the vendor who brags: "we are losing money on every sale, but we will make it up in volume."But Google CEO Eric Schmidt doesn't deny the charge. On Jim Cramer's Mad Money yesterday, Schmidt said "Eventually, we'd like to make some money of out [YouTube], but even if we don't, even if ultimately its a loss leader, the fact that so many people come to YouTube means they ultimately come to Google and click on ads." The numbers back up Schmidt's claims. According to ComScore, in June 2008 YouTube pointed 2.4 million search queries through Google search — just a couple hundred thousand fewer than Yahoo search.