Monday’s mega-announcement changed everything. The balance of power in the search engine business world has again shifted precipitously in the direction of the Googleplex. Google now owns YouTube, by far the Internet’s most popular social, video-sharing application. The acquisition was obviously important to Google. It paid $1.65 billion worth of stocks for a 20-month old start-up that had previously existed on approximately $11 million in venture capital funding.

Rumours of the deal had been circulating all weekend, fueled by speculation that Yahoo and MSN were also interested in buying YouTube. Over the past few years, Google has made a habit of grabbing online properties its competitors were interested in, often entering into negotiations with acquisition targets after its rivals initiate talks. It opened the year snagging AOL away from Microsoft. In the middle of this year, it inked a lucrative ad distribution deal with the social networking site MySpace. Closing the year with a mega-deal its rivals desperately needed to remain vital and relevant is more than frosting on the cake, it is a volley of torpedoes aimed amidships.

The dust hasn’t settled yet and everyone is talking about GooTube. Every major newspaper in North America has run speculative stories each day since the purchase was announced. Wall St. continues to reward Google with share prices rising steadily since Monday. Yesterday, one of our local evening newscast even devoted four minutes of primetime to a collection of amateur YouTube videos depicting Victoria. Everyone knows this is huge but what does it mean for the industry?

As a content medium, the Internet has advanced so rapidly over the past two years it has basically been a time of constant transition. We are, in my estimation at any rate, pretty much in the middle of the greatest change in mass-communication in human history. Google’s purchase of YouTube introduces video communication for the masses with at least one proven method of making money attached as a side bonus. Where YouTube revolutionized, Google will popularize.

This really messes with the competition. For large rivals Yahoo, MSN and Ask, the gap between what they can offer and what Google’s got has expanded enormously. Not only did Google buy the loyalty of most of YouTube’s 72 million users, Google bought access to their eyeballs. Watch for Google to set up a video and entertainment focused publishing network in the near future. Google also gets, as part of the purchase, four key deals YouTube recently made with copyright holders, Sony BMG, Warner Music, CBS and Universal Music Group.

A good defense is the foundation strong offense is built upon. Google’s purchase of YouTube puts a massive hurdle in the paths of Yahoo and Microsoft. Google is moving to snake the carpet out from under the feet of the emerging Yahoo Publishing Network while, at the same time yanking at Microsoft, which had earlier made overtures towards YouTube. As of today, there are rumours Google is looking at making a deal with FaceBook.

It also messes with Google’s summertime fling, MySpace. An audio and video experience in the social networking space is one of the blocks MySpace is built on. Google cut a deal in the summer to serve search results and text-advertising on MySpace, a partnership somewhat sullied by Google’s successful flirtation with YouTube.

The one outcome of this deal that cannot be debated is that this week marks one of the biggest turning points in the history of the Internet. The landscape has radically altered. Google is so far ahead of any competition when it comes to having the coolest technotoys there is virtually no competition. Now the market waits to see exactly what Google is going to do with its collection of mass accessible communication devices.