Although YouTube draws by far the most viewers, Google has struggled to generate advertising revenue on a par with the site's massive popularity, because big marketers remain skeptical about promoting their brands alongside amateur videos of questionable quality and taste. For this reason, the jury is still out on whether Google overpaid for YouTube when it acquired the site for US$1.65 billion in October 2006.

On the other hand, Hulu, despite its smaller user base, seems to be succeeding in attracting big advertisers who feel more comfortable with its professionally produced content and its tight control over the content featured.