Most watched YouTube videos in Australia

Google releases top video clips for 2009

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Susan Boyle’s new album may be top of the ARIA charts in Australia right now, but it was a little video on YouTube that started it all.

And when it comes to Australian-made YouTube clips, music artists dominate in the popularity stakes.

Google has released its list of most-watched videos by Australians in 2009 and music dominates the lists of clips.

In compiling the lists, YouTube also examined the billions of queries typed into YouTube search in 2009 to identify some of the fastest-rising search terms for each month.

At the recent Realising Our Broadband Future forum, Google’s senior product manager, David King, outlined YouTube’s Contend ID system, which allows rights holders to control how content appears on the site. The system has been extremely successful for YouTube in regards to monetising music videos, a fact that is born out by the most watched statistics just released.

“YouTube is a very interesting case study in the sorts of services that become possible with more bandwidth,” King told the forum audience. “And entertainment is just part of the story. Users are using digital media to inform and inspire.”

About six million people use YouTube in Australia and the site has tens of thousands of content partners.

“They partner with us because we share advertising revenue generated by their content and because users want to access content wherever they are,” King said. “A big area of focus has been around music. We have become a key marketing vehicle for the music industry. But it's more than just another music video platform.

As well as the music industry, King identified individual partners such as Natalie, an Australian student who runs CommunityChannel and who he said makes a six figure income from the site.

Much of YouTube’s work is also around copyright.

“Our goal is to provide a scaleable automated service that enables right holders to make a choice as to where and how content appears on YouTube. The majority of content owners using our tools are choosing to monetise but you can choose what works for you.”