YouTube launches Taiwanese site

YouTube LLC, the world's most popular video-sharing site, yesterday launched a Taiwanese site.

The launch of the site pits YouTube against Wretch Co (無名小站), and also created another battlefield between Internet titans Google Inc and Yahoo Inc.

YouTube was acquired by Google last October for US$1.65 billion, while Wretch -- a comprehensive online community providing blog, photo and video sharing service -- was purchased by Yahoo's local unit, Yahoo-Kimo Inc (雅虎奇摩), in February.

"We will keep innovating and bringing the best products to local users instead of focusing on the competition," YouTube chief technology officer and cofounder Steve Chen (陳士駿) said at the launch ceremony in Taipei.

"We hope that at the end of the day, users will choose us," Chen said.

YouTube's Taiwan site allows local users to search and view video content faster and easier, Chen said. It will also help to reinforce connections and experiences within the local community, he said.

YouTube already has local sites in Japan and Hong Kong.

The Taipei-based online market research firm InsightXplorer Ltd (創市際) said the arrival rate at YouTube by Taiwanese users was 35 percent in August, while the rate of arrival rate for Wretch's video service, which was launched on July 25, was 26.5 percent.

Wretch not only has a Chinese-language platform, but also a service backed by a local team to which users can directly provide feedback and report technical problems, Yahoo-Kimo public relations supervisor Ruu Wu (吳苑如) said.

YouTube has many underground resources from Google, YouTube international manager Sakina Arsiwala said.

As YouTube is built upon users' needs, when the demand in Taiwan surges significantly, then YouTube will set up a local team, Arsiwala said.

Google has demonstrated its strong ambition in cultivating the Taiwanese market since it established a research and development team here in June last year. The company launched a local version of Google Maps to boost traffic last Friday.

Google Taiwan is also on the way to work with telecom operators for users to upload and view video clips on YouTube from their handsets, Google Taiwan strategic partner manager Sean Lien (連祥一) said, without providing a timetable.

The launch of various Chinese-language sites is aimed at boosting Google's ad revenues from Taiwan. Rebecca Kuei (張成秀), Google Taiwan's head of sales and business development, refused to reveal the growth of ad sales in Taiwan.