Despite intense competition in the video-sharing portal scene, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen (陳士駿) yesterday said his site will not be toppled from its perch.
"We are 100 percent focused on creating the best platform that is the easiest to use. You will see our continued success," Chen told a Taipei press conference yesterday.
YouTube has enjoyed a steady stream of visitors, who all have a say on what content is uploaded and which clips become favorites, he said.
YouTube will continue to empower its users with better tools, Chen said, especially after integrating resources and expertise from Internet titan Google Inc, which acquired YouTube last October for US$1.65 billion.
He also said that his early experience with PayPal -- eBay Inc's electronic-payment unit -- enabled him to beef up end-to-end solutions that won over users' hearts whilst he has been running YouTube.
A number of Web sites, including Yahoo-Kimo Inc (雅虎奇摩), are looking to benefit from the popularity of video-sharing portals.
Yahoo-Kimo launched a localized video-sharing service last October, which is said to be the first Chinese-language global video-sharing platform linking local and overseas content.
YouTube is set to follow in its footsteps by offering localized versions in Asia, including Taiwan in the near term.
"We want YouTube to look like a local site to promote the local community, and not look like a US site to international users," Chen said.
The contents should be culturally relevant to domestic surfers, and will adhere to local customs and laws to ensure the site is the best it can be for users and advertisers, he said.
Born in Taiwan, Chen, 29, moved to the US with his parents when he was eight years old.
His visit to Taiwan to study market conditions and meet fans and business partners has attracted huge media coverage in the past few days.
Chen created YouTube with his friends Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim to share video clips that they had made during a get-together. YouTube quickly became one of the world's most visited sites.
RSS