Experian Hitwise reports that YouTube just had its biggest month of traffic ever in the UK. In July, YouTube accounted for 1 in every 35 UK Internet visits, period. The boom in traffic is due to massive growth in mobile viewing.
Since January, mobile visits to YouTube have doubled in the UK. Hitwise estimates that smartphones and tablets account for as much as 10% of UK YouTube views. Across platforms, YouTube received 22.5% of UK visits to social networks, placing second after Facebook, which received more than half.
Worldwide, YouTube receives some 3 billion views per day. The video sharing network, whose old “Broadcast Yourself” motto is no longer visible on the homepage, has been in talks to broadcast NBA basketball games. To put that in perspective, that means Google, YouTube’s parent company, could be in a position to outbid the major TV networks for fabulously expensive licensing and contracts.
YouTube used to be known for its weirdos and amateurs, and while they’re still abundant on the site, maybe more popular than ever, YouTube is becoming something other than a social network. It’s now a mass medium.
Do you upload YouTube videos, or mostly just watch?
