Verizon pulled off a coup d’ etat over its rivals Cingular, T-Mobile and Sprint by securing an exclusive but limited time partnership with YouTube.

Verizon Wireless will offer YouTube videos through its subscription based V Cast Service.  V Cast costs $15 per month or $3 for a single day.  This signals YouTube’s first foray into an agreement with a wireless carrier and will put Verizon and its customers ahead of the pack as long as they can hold onto the exclusive arrangement.

YouTube was created with a model that provided access to anyone with internet access and providing an exclusive offering even in a mobile setting runs counter to the key elements that made it popular in the first place.

It also remains to be seen whether or not this exclusive arrangement between Verizon and YouTube (owned by Google) will extend over to GoogleVideo, which used to be a competitor of YouTube prior to the acquisition.

It might also signal to other video providers such as MetaCafe, Ifilm, Brightcove and Microsoft that there is no time like now to provide a mobile solution.  In fact if competing services offered up a world wide video service to all wireless carriers it could trump Verizon and leave Verizon holding a very expensive YouTube of funny amateur videos.

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Its interesting to note that Google one of the newest major corporations reshaping the world of advertising has reeled in Verizon Communications to resell Google AdWords at a local level.

Small Business used to purchasing ads in Verizon’s Superpages (yellow pages) will now be coached by Verizon agents on how to place their ads with keywords in Google’s AdWords.

AdWords is a service provided by Google where advertisers bid online to place their advertisment according to the keywords or page viewers most likely to be associated with the ad. They compete for placement according to others bidding on the same keywords or online viewers. Highest bidder gets the ad.

Its not mentioned specifically, but the article hints that these local placements will be geographically restricted somehow.

Verizon online directory in ad deal with Google - Yahoo! News:
“‘We’re pleased Verizon is an authorized AdWords reseller and helping local small businesses take advantage of the opportunities of search advertising,’ Google said in a statement.’”

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