WebProNews

But plenty of people have never been to YouTube

Video sharing websites watched their typical daily traffic double through 2007, with nearly half of US Internet users stopping by YouTube and similar sites.

Yesterday is more than the most widely covered song in music history. It's increasingly the last time someone visited a video sharing site.

The Pew Internet project found greater use of video sharing sites in a survey they performed, interviewing people by phone about their visiting habits.

At the end of 2006, 8 percent of those surveyed had stopped by a video sharing site "yesterday." That increased to 15 percent by the end of 2007, effectively doubling over the course of a year.

The heaviest visiting activity came from men, and from the age 18-29 bracket. That alone should make it obvious why advertisers and entrepreneurs are so eager to find a profitable video business model. Huge amounts of money dangle tantalizingly out of reach right now.

Video sharing sites still have not tapped the majority of US Internet users. 48 percent of the survey group have ever visited YouTube or other sites like it. A year ago, the figure was 33 percent.

The growth potential for video sharing sites means we should see a lot more websites trying to find a formula of content and monetization that works.