YouTube.com vs. utube.com

Today CNN reported that an Ohio company's sales get 'killed' as YouTube surfers cripple utube.com, a pipe equipment seller's web site.

One place where YouTube's success isn't being celebrated is in the offices of Universal Tube and Rollerform Equipment Corp. near Toledo, Ohio.

The company, which sells used machinery for making tubes to clients worldwide, has seen its site utube.com knocked off line by millions of online searchers looking for video site.

"It's killing us," said Ralph Girkins, president and owner of the 22-year-old
business. "All my worldwide reps use our Web site. Customers all over the world
use it to bring up photos of the machinery, descriptions and specifications
there."

Girkins says his site, which has been online since 1994, got 68 million hits in August.
One of the most damaging aspects is that the company advertises to customers worldwide under the name utube.com, Girkins says.

The full story…