YouTube to Get More Hulu-ish?

Last week, YouTube made some changes to its home page, by altering the names of some video sections. YouTube Product Marketing Manager Curtis Lee said there were more changes coming soon, but did not elaborate on this.

Spotlight Videos

Now some details have emerged about what is in store for YouTube, and if reports are accurate, the site’s going for a more Hulu-like approach. Zachary Rodgers with ClickZ reports:

According to two sources familiar with Google’s plans for YouTube, the new design will do away with the current navigation scheme — which funnels users into "videos," "channels," and "community" categories. That layout will be replaced with a tabbed navigation with clearly defined sections for professional content.

The new design will offer four tabs: Movies, Music, Shows, and Videos. The first three tabs will display premium shows, clips, and movies from Google’s network and studio partners, all of which will be monetized with in-stream advertising. Meanwhile the Videos channel will house amateur and semi-pro content of the sort major brand advertisers have shied away from.

Rodgers was told that "they’re putting up walls between all the user-generated stuff and the the "brand-safe content," and that YouTube’s player will be more like Hulu’s (below) in the sense it will show markers where ads will appear in the progress bar.

Adspots on Hulu Video

News of these potential changes at YouTube comes while the site is attempting to work out a deal for Disney content. From the sound of it, YouTube’s aim is to offer both the current YouTube experience as well as a Hulu-style one.