CARLSBAD, Calif.--American entrepreneur and cable network owner Mark Cuban says that despite the growth of YouTube, the Internet video market over the last decade has actually been a disappointment.
The problem, he said, is that when Google bought YouTube it focused on ubiquity rather than making money. The result, he said, is that the market can't really sustain itself.
"This is a company that is literally subsidizing the bandwidth for the world," Cuban said, speaking at the D: All Things Digital event. That's a risk, Cuban said, if someone were to ever find a better search business model than Google.
"I think its a real disappointment to see where Internet video has come," Cuban said, noting that the industry still doesn't have advertising standards, among other shortcomings.
Asked why that doesn't sound like a business opportunity, Cuban said, "It's like fighting Microsoft" in the PC business.
"YouTube has gotten so big you are not a standard unless YouTube adopts you."
He gave some credit to Hulu for trying to build a money-making Internet video site.
"Hulu has done some great things and they are focused on monetization," he said, but also added "they have some big pockets that they have to appease."
As he has in the past, Cuban criticized the Internet saying it was "dead", "staid" and generally uninteresting. He likened it to the PC software business after the WordPerfect-Word and other battles had ended.
"It's just a utility," he said.
As for the Twitter guys, he said he is not worried they don't have a business model.
"They can make money," Cuban said. "They are having just as much fun teasing everyone."
This article was first published as a blog post on CNET News.
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