So Google bought YouTube. Maybe for their user base, maybe to test their video ads, maybe because someone else could have bought it, or maybe because they realized Google Video can't be more successful than YouTube.
But there's an online trend lately that has this tagline: "Google will destroy YouTube". Here's a quote from San Francisco Chronicle:
"For many of us, there's a definite vibe that the wild fun times will soon be coming to an end. It's like your parents are coming up the driveway, and you've broken the crystal egg and are going to be grounded for the next eight months - leaving you with nothing except the crazy memories of that brothel you ran out of their house over the weekend."
Or this video that shows how YouTube becomes a cluttered dying site under Google's hegemony.
All these people can't understand that Google bought YouTube just because it's the coolest online video site, and it will keep the brand, while the site will continue to exist independently. So we won't see a major design change, as this will alienate the users.
Google will probably adopt Yahoo's model, where services like Flickr and del.icio.us, although Yahoo's property, work independently.
The quoted article also mentions that YouTube will sink, as it goes mainstream. But YouTube doesn't have anything exclusive, it's not a site for elites, it's just where ordinary people create their own TV shows and entertain the masses.
If you go to YouTube.com, you won't see any sign of Google's acquisition, and that isn't likely to change soon. If you think Google truly owns YouTube, you're wrong. YouTube is not Google's tube, YouTube is people's tube. Google is not there to change the rules, it's there to make YouTube sustain itself and continue to grow.