Web video to hit $1bn by end of the decade

Content providers decision to play nice pays off...

Internet video services are still finding their feet but according to analysts they have a $1bn future.

A new report from IDC predicts that video services, such as Google's video store, will be generating revenues of $1.7bn by 2010.

The figure marks an increase of over $1.5bn from 2005 revenues, spurred, the analysts say, by content providers' newfound willingness to allow their wares to be distributed online.

Despite a boom in revenues, the structure of the market will remain fairly static, according to IDC, with advertising-based models dominating for some time to come.

Within the next two to three years, however, on-demand and download services, such as those offered by iTunes for TV shows, will start to make more of a mark, as will subscription-based services, buoyed by the emergence of home networking.