YouTube has always reigned supreme as the home of video content, but now, Yahoo are looking to rival its services with their own platform. But can the “Yahoo-Tube” of the future really stop our much-loved video-sharing site in its tracks? We reveal our thoughts…

It should be the case that two dominant video platforms can occupy the market- after all, both will do things a little differently, and a degree of competition will most certainly incentivize each. However, Yahoo’s video service will pose more than a threat to YouTube in presence alone; reports suggest that one of the company’s initiatives is to poach talent from the Google-owned service. Already, execs are trying to lure video producers away from YouTube by promising greater revenues, with improved ad rates and income. Reportedly, Yahoo has been looking into purchasing video-syndication service News Distribution Network, in a deal likely to be worth around $300 million, and if the acquisition is to go ahead, Yahoo might succeed in creating its own channel that plays host to some great content creators and channel managers.

But the question is- could Yahoo really be a threat? Potentially, we feel that the answer is yes, if the company is to guarantee better returns for content creators. This is especially true if Yahoo succeed in targeting the real celebrities of the YouTube scene- those whose videos go viral. If everything works in Yahoo’s favour, the company’s video network will read like an optimised YouTube; one that only features the best and most popular, filtering out the hours of video footage that have already made their home on the Google-owned platform. However, although it might be easy to persuade disillusioned YouTube vloggers, it will not be easy to attract the necessary audiences, many of whom rely on YouTube. After all, Google’s services in general, from Gmail to Google Search are vastly more popular, and have come to be the default- so much so that many people now struggle to recognise Yahoo’s brand identity and the products associated with it.

Funnily enough though, it’s often easy to forget that Yahoo owns some great companies including Tumblr, startup app Summly, and Flickr. And only last year, it was announced that Yahoo’s sites received a greater volume of web traffic than Google’s, with 197 million visitors to the latter’s 192 million. It’s a surprising statistic, but may be indicative of Yahoo’s progress. And it also seems that since Marissa Mayer came to the helm as CEO, the company’s services have been through several redesigns, another potential reason for its traffic success. Yahoo Mail for instance, as well as Flickr and Yahoo’s homepage all received revamped designs. Furthermore, Yahoo continued to put image first, by hiring the popular and former CBS newscaster, Kate Couric as its global anchor for Yahoo News. Bearing these factors in mind, it’s clear that Yahoo might reap some success, if it can continue to grow in an upward direction, and one that can generate popularity.

Is YouTube your first choice for online video content? And do you think Yahoo stands a chance in damaging YouTube’s reputation? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.