SoftRatty: Tough Job: YouTube Hires New "Head Of Monetization"

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Tough Job: YouTube Hires New "Head Of Monetization"

2008-08-14 16:39:00 by Michael Learmonth in Silicon Alley Insider

Ben Ling, the recently-departed head of Facebook's app platform, is returing to Google, which he left just a year ago. He either really wanted to get out of Facebook, or he really has a hankering for tough jobs, because his new Google gig is going to be tough: He's supposed to help YouTube turn into a profitable business.

Kara Swisher reports that Ling will be "taking a job leading monetization efforts" at the video site (earlier today, Valleywag correctly guessed that Ling was going back to Google.

It's not clear whether Ling is replacing Shashi Seth, YouTube's "head of monetization", who left YouTube for startup Cooliris at the beginning of June. What is clear: Whatever Ling's title is, he's going to have hard task. Google CEO Eric Schmidt needs help just to hit his $200 million revenue target for 2008.

At present, YouTube is selling ads against fewer than 3% of its videos, and that won't change much until it can settle its lawsuit with Viacom, and/or start signing ad deals with media companies.