YouTube's recent foray into movie rentals was not a major money-spinner for the world's biggest video site as results of the experiment have been revealed.

The Google-owned company has said the five films, which were available for a period of 10 days, saw 2684 views in total, which at $3.99 per rental, adds up to $10,709.16.

The films were not mainstream, mass-market movies but a selection from the 2009 and 2010 Sundance Film Festival - and were only available to US viewers.

YouTube, however, appears happy with the result. “It definitely exceeded our expectations given all the barriers", Chris Dale, a YouTube spokesperson told The New York Times.

In addition to the five films, YouTube promises "a small collection of rental videos from other US partners across different industries, including health and education, will be made available in the weeks ahead".

Via: bits.blogs.nytimes.com

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