YouTube, as an Independent Company

YouTube blog announces some new features and updates, but only two are related to Google, at least in a visible way:

GOOGLE SEARCH!: Thanks to, ahem, a certain parent company, our search is now vastly improved so it should be even easier to find your favorite sleeping kitty video exactly when you want to show it to grandma. Moreover, YouTube videos are now indexed on Google Video Search, which means more potential viewers for your videos!

NEW AND IMPROVED HELP CENTER: The contents of the Help Center have tripled and it’s hopefully easier to read and navigate. Plus now you can search within the Help Center, see the Top 5 questions most asked by users, and let us know whether the information was helpful or not.

YouTube's new help center is the only thing hosted at google.com and it's interesting to note that there's no mention of Google or a Google logo. Despite all the dark predictions that Google would destroy YouTube, it's clear that YouTube won't change too much. And if it will, the changes will be subtle, like the improved search.

YouTube will continue to act like a startup, but one that has access to a lot of new and powerful resources.