What is User Generated Content?

User Generated Content (UGC), also known as consumer-generated media (CGM), refers to any material created and uploaded to the Internet by non-media professionals, whether it’s a comment left on Amazon.com, a professional-quality video uploaded to YouTube, or a student’s profile on Facebook. UGC has been around in one form or another since the earliest days of the Internet itself. But in the past five years, thanks to the growing availability of high-speed Internet access and search technology, it has become one of the dominant forms of global media. It is currently one of the fastest growing forms of content on the Internet.

UGC is fundamentally altering how audiences interact with the Internet, and how advertisers reach those audiences. In 2006, UGC sites attracted 69 million users in the United States alone, and in 2007 generated $1 billion in advertising revenue. By 2011, UGC sites are projected to attract 101 million users in the U.S.