YouTube shares the wealth

Site expands partnership program to users

By MARC GRASER

YouTube said Monday that it will allow more of its users to share in the advertising dollars generated from its videos.

For the second time this year, the Google-owned site is expanding its partnership program that splits ad revenue with a select group of content owners whose vids play on the site and with the websites of syndication partners.

Now the program is open to all content creators who own the copyrights to the audio and video they post, regularly post to the site and live in the U.S. or Canada.

In May, YouTube said it had revenue-sharing deals with more than 1,000 partners, including media companies CBS, the BBC, Sundance Channel, the NBA and Sony BMG, as well as independent content creators like lonelygirl15.

First round of several hundred users had been selected by the company for building a sizable audience on YouTube and complying with the site's terms of use.

YouTube said it hopes the program will encourage users to "create compelling, engaging and viral content" for the site. It also hopes the expansion of the number of vids will encourage more marketers to consider buying ad time on YouTube.