Google used Akamai's content delivery network (CDN) to stream the first live YouTube show last week, reports TechCrunch. Google launched YouTube Live on November 22, with a concert that attracted 863,000 online viewers worldwide. The online giant has yet to announce a technology partner for the service, but server data shows the streams were delivered by the Akamai CDN.
Google owns one of the world's largest delivery networks, which it uses to stream YouTube's on-demand videos. Live webcasting, however, requires a much higher capability than YouTube's progressive download, which is why Google used a third-party network.
Analysts wonder why the firm chose to use Akamai's CDN instead of partnering with live streaming platforms such as Mogulus, Ustream and Justin.tv. It has been suggested that this is because the YouTube event would have proven too big for such platforms.
Akamai claims to handle 20% of the world's total online traffic. The platform currently serves around 69m users per minute worldwide.
StrategyEye's related companies: Mogulus, Akamai Technologies, Google, YouTube, Justin.tv
