YouTube: 50% More Traffic than Other Video Sites Combined
YouTube's growth has not begun to slow yet this year. Hitwise traffic data shows that the market share of US visits to YouTube has increased by 70% when comparing January 2007 to May 2007 (this only includes site visits …
Context & Ripple Effects
June 2007 has been a consolidation month for YouTube: it launched its mobile streaming service on schedule on June 18, crossed 20 million US unique visitors by June 20, and deepened its political footprint through the You Choose '08 candidate channel hub and its hosting of presidential debates. Hitwise's traffic snapshot now puts a number under that momentum — a 70% increase in YouTube's share of US visits between January and May 2007.
The headline comparison — 50% more traffic than every other video site combined — reframes the market from a crowded field of video startups into a single dominant destination. That framing is why the story drew same-day pickup beyond the trade press, including NewTeeVee, and why the measurement itself, not just the ranking, is becoming part of the story.
First-order effects
- Rival video sites now compete against a single destination that outdraws all of them combined, so incremental audience gains at any individual competitor matter little against YouTube's compounding network effects.
- Advertisers and media buyers get a sharper concentration signal from Hitwise's panel, pushing video budgets toward one default buy instead of a spread across many smaller sites.
Second-order effects
- Content owners lose bargaining leverage: with the audience concentrated on YouTube, takedown disputes resolve in the platform's favor — the spurned 'Die Hard' parody pulled earlier in June was approved and returned within days.
- Competitors are forced to differentiate on niche verticals, professional content, or distribution deals, because head-to-head traffic competition against a site holding more than half the market's visits is unwinnable.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, user-generated video consolidates into a winner-take-most structure where one platform controls distribution, discovery, and the terms of content licensing — a position analogous to what leading search engines hold over web navigation.
- Third-party measurement firms such as Hitwise gain outsized influence, since their panels increasingly shape valuations, ad pricing, and press narratives across the online-video sector.
The trend: Online video is consolidating around a single dominant consumer platform, converting a fragmented field of video startups into a de facto gatekeeper for video distribution and advertising.