Guba CEO steps down

29 December 2006 10:27 GMT / By Amber Maitland

The online video sharing market my not be as lucrative as previously thought thanks to the dominance of YouTube, says Guba's ex-CEO.

Guba's CEO Thomas McInerney stepped down from the company, telling CNET News.com that two other execs might follow him.

He commented that Guba executives have been looking into the profitability of the sight in light of the fact that YouTube is the dominant market player, with nearly half of everyone who logs on to a video sharing site go straight to YouTube.

“I think we can all acknowledge that YouTube has won the big prize”, McInerney said. “Guba is at a crossroads and we're deciding whether to look for funding or to sell."

“I think we're inclined to sell.”

Despite the popularity of video sharing sites, no one seems to have figured out how to monetise the sites properly, as many advertisers are leery of branding possibly offensive or rude content with their ads.

McInerney was apparently trying to sell Guba earlier in the year, according to CNET News.com's sources. Although it looked at one point like they would sell to a Hollywood studio like Warner Bros or Sony Pictures, those deals didn't come through, and Sony went on to buy Grouper instead.

Full tags

Biz, Appointments, Guba