E-commerce sites are now adding video, as the infomercial enters the age of YouTube. What amuses us about this trend is that it was an early business model, since abandoned, that YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen entertained for their online-video startup. Having previously worked for eBay, Hurley and Chen briefly conceived of YouTube as a tool for embedding videos in online auctions. It's gone from far-out idea to standard practice in the cottage industry for selling-on-eBay tips.

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