[dudeget]

I am very sad to see Vidme go. I loved the honesty of this blog post, it really shows that they are aware of the independent video scene and why it is almost impossible to compete with the giants (YouTube, and now to my knowledge, instagram).

I always wanted them to succeed, but there was always something telling me that success would be unlikely. YouTube is Google's big loss leader; they seem to exist to keep Google's large internet presence and to keep people connected to the Google ecosystem. If Google can't make YouTube profitable, it seems highly unlikely that a startup would be able to.

It's interesting how Vimeo is still in the game during all of this. They exist because they have a foothold onto the creative/indie/premium video scene. I'm sure vidme was looking for a similar foothold; an niche audience that YouTube/instagram/vimeo had not captured.

I hope the best for their new project. Also kudos to them for advertising those they are not taking onto the new project.

[throwaway2048]

Calculations that youtube is an unprofitable loss leader make the assumption that google pays retail rates for bandwidth. Google is peered with virtually every transit network and ISP on earth, and pays (in relative terms) virtually nothing.

Its a near certainty that youtube is infact massively profitable.