by Sarah Schoenfelder -

YouTube is about to remodel and when it emerges, it will look a lot like Hulu. While we’ll have to wait until the April 16th launch to see all the changes go live, early signs indicate YouTube is retooling with advertisers in mind.

After the remodel, YouTube will clearly delineate between user-generated videos and premium or long form content from professional providers; new navigation will direct visitors to tabs for Movies, shows, videos, or Music. Content on the music, shows, and movie categories will be “monetized with in-stream advertising.” The user-generated clips which draw so much of YouTube's traffic will reside within the videos channel.

Advertisers have long complained of inconsistency of content on YouTube; a hesitance to run aside mildly to wildly inappropriate user-generated clips has kept many advertisers from running campaigns on the portal. YouTube’s new navigation looks to address that concern. A senior agency exec riffed on YouTube's plans: "They're putting up walls between all the UGC stuff, which will live within the video channel...and the brand safe content.”

ClickZ shared other highlights of the remodel, including Hulu-like changes to the existing video player. Simultaneously Google is working on syndication deals with content providers including Disney and is “experimenting with ways to offer YouTube ad inventory through its Google TV ad buying system for broadcast and cable TV spots.”

Clearly the pressure is on to monetize Google’s investment in YouTube. NBC and News Corp-owned Hulu has struck upon a model that works for monetizing video, and YouTube is looking to emulate that model. But will imitating Hulu pay off-- and work-- for YouTube? Source: ClickZ, more