YouTube down the tubes? Everybody loves YouTube, the company that has captured our hearts and a 40 percent share of the home-movies-on-the-web market. But at least one analyst thinks the company is on shaky ground.
Josh Martin, an IDC research analyst, issued a report Thursday asserting that YouTube will struggle to squeeze profits from its video-sharing business, primarily because its audience has grown accustomed to paying nothing for the service. Fans of San Mateo, Calif.-based YouTube are even likely to buck attempts to post ads on the site because YouTube has largely been ad free since its official launch last December, according to the report.