The Chinese user-generated video site Youku.com (their name even sounds like YouTube!) closed Series C investment of US $25 million on November 19, according to Youku president Victor Koo. The company will use the $25 million to improve video service standards, expand the company’s sales and marketing efforts and increase research and development. While this announcement from Youku demonstrates that online video may be yet another market in China where Google finds some tough competition, the same questions remain for Youku as for YouTube—how can content producers make sure their videos are seen and how can all that seeing translate into profit?

In China, video-sharing sites like Youku face major barriers. Along with higher infrastructure costs associated with video storage, the Chinese government scrutinizes online video as harshly as it does TV programs. However with some strategic partnerships—such as a deal with Baidu, China’s most popular search engine—Youku has gained an early lead on other video sites since its launch last December. This already popular service claims “videos are broadcast more than 70 million times a day.”

With 77 percent of Internet users acknowledging that they have consumed online video and forty-five percent of user’s time online spent consuming content, it is no wonder Youku found firm financial backing. And China now has the fastest-growing online population worldwide. Second only to the U.S., China’s 160 million Web users represent the second-largest global market. A leading monetization model has yet to surface on either side of the Pacific however, with various ad formats vying for primacy but no single form taking the clear lead.

As we move into 2008, media companies will likely continue their ambivalent relationship with 3rd party distribution sites such as YouTube and Youku. Content producers will face similar frustrations, as they too look to spur consumption to levels meaningful enough to build sizeable revenue online. Connecting users to content—and finding the value in that connection—will be more important than ever as this market continues to grow and more and more multimedia floods the Web.