Google said Tuesday that the YouTube page showcasing the "Gangnam Style"
video by South Korean rapper Psy has reaped more than $8 million in ad
revenue.
Google Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora revealed the
figure while discussing the money-making potential of YouTube during a
quarterly earnings call with financial analysts.
Ad revenue from popular YouTube videos is shared with creators of the content.
In
December, "Gangnam Style" became the first video to break a billion
views on YouTube, marking a historic milestone on the Internet.
A
counter at the YouTube page showed that the music video has been watched
more than 1.23 billion times since it was uploaded in July of last
year.
Kevin Allocca, YouTube's trends manager, attributed Psy's
success "to the universal appeal of catchy music and er, great equine
dance moves."
"Gangnam" is estimated to have earned the rapper millions more from digital downloads, advertising deals and on-demand services.
The song which refers to a trendy Seoul district spawned a mini tribute video industry, complete with copycats.
The
quirky star, whose real name is Park Jae-Sang, won adulation in his
homeland for the global hit and was awarded one of South Korea's highest
cultural honors, the Okgwan Order of Cultural Merit.