YouTube's co-founder has stepped down from his CEO role to work on other Google projects. YouTube has reorganized to focus on content partnerships, including pushing Google TV.
Google's reorganization of YouTube continued this week
with the revelation that YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley was stepping down to
work on other services at the search engine.
Hurley, the face of YouTube since he and fellow
co-founders Steve Chen and Jawed Karim sold YouTube to Google in 2006 for $1.65
billion, will serve as an adviser.
"I will continue to serve as an adviser and am
excited to witness the next phase of YouTube's growth," Hurley said in a
statement.
That growth to this point includes 24 hours of video
uploaded per minute, with more than 2 billion videos watched daily.
Google also
said this month it is making money from more than 2 billion views per week,
with YouTube leading Google's display ad business to a
$2.5 billion run rate.
The move, which TechCrunch
uncovered Oct. 28, comes more than a month after YouTube
reorganized around content partnerships.
YouTube installed Dean Gilbert as YouTube's Global Head
of Content, and more quietly tucked in the company's bold Google TV effort to
marry Web and channel surfing.
Gilbert, who previously worked on Google TV, is charged
with turning YouTube into a more serious broadcast medium for television via
YouTube Leanback, the Google TV application that lets users watch video after
video without interruption.
Overseeing Gilbert and YouTube is Salar Kamangar, who
will take the CEO role at the unit.
"The reorganization YouTube did over a month ago
focused on streamlining our operations so we could make faster decisions and
align team goals with the company's overall business objectives," Google
told eWEEK.
"Just like any rapidly growing organization, it is important
for YouTube to evolve and grow to ensure further success in the future."
Co-founder Kim left YouTube shortly after selling it to Google. Chen left YouTube in 2008 to work on other
Google projects. Hurley stayed as his company weathered a $1 billion
lawsuit from Viacom, which accused YouTube of airing copyrighted videos.
A federal judge
found that Google and YouTube
removed copyrighted content in accordance with
the law. Viacom has appealed the ruling.
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