Google Acquired YouTube in 2006: Here’s the First Video Uploaded

On October 9, 2006, Google acquired YouTube in a $1.65 billion stock deal. YouTube was founded in 2005, with the first video uploaded in April 2005, and co-founded by Jawed Karim. The video streaming giant wasn’t the same back then, as its founders wanted to build it from a video site to a dating site. Basically an online platform where people can post videos to describe their ideal partners. Fortunately, Google bought the company for a modest sum and created a global peak for video content.

YouTube began its journey with a video in which YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim stood in front of two elephants at the San Diego Zoo in California and talked about their long trunks for 19 seconds. Yes, it was a short video, and in 2023 YouTube will focus on Shorts!

WATCH VIDEO: Google bought YouTube 17 years ago today: Watch the first video

The first YouTube video was uploaded on April 23, 2005, and over a year later on October 9, 2006, YouTube was acquired by Google to establish itself as a major technology force in the industry. YouTube is now a platform for those video creators who have made billions on the platform, and prominent content creators have millions of subscribers who stay tuned to their screens to watch their favorite artists.

This is what Chad Hurley, CEO and co-founder of YouTube, said when Google acquired YouTube: “Our community has played an important role in changing how people consume media and creating a new clip culture. By joining forces with Google, we can benefit from its global reach and technology leadership to provide a more comprehensive entertainment experience for our users and create new opportunities for our partners . I am confident that with this partnership, we will have the necessary flexibility and resources to achieve our goal of building a next-generation platform to serve media worldwide.”