It is only right that we wish a big happy birthday to the website highlighted for completely changing the video experience for the better, YouTube. Turning a young eight years old today, it’s hard to remember a time before the video streaming website was around, yet it actually made its debut back in 2005. Just to give you a point of reference, 2005 was the year that the space mission Deep Impact launched from Cape Canaveral, the New England Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX over the Philadelphia Eagles, Israel and Palestine signed a cease-fire agreement and The Huffington Post made its official debut.

Over these last eight years, YouTube has blossomed even more than the biggest and most beautiful flower, currently boasting more than one billion monthly active users according to Reuters. In fact, if the free video site powered by Google was a country, it would be the third-largest in the world after China and India. Pretty impressive, don’t you agree? As the proliferation of mobile gadgets will only increase by the day, this has enabled social media and video sharing websites to skyrocket in terms of popularity.

Today in an official blog post, company officials of YouTube wrote, “And so, on our eighth birthday, we’d like to thank you for making YouTube the special place that it is. For showing us how video can create connections, transcend borders and make a difference. For clicking these links even if you aren’t sure what they’ll be, but you trust us. In short, thanks for making us better in big ways and small ones, too. We can’t wait to see what you come up with next.”

The video platform is a great way for companies and individuals alike looking for a cost-effective solution to promote themselves to do just that. It is easy for the even the most technologically inept person to figure out how to use and is currently one of many ways in which Google can produce revenue. Although at this time YouTube is completely free, reports have surfaced that sometime later this year paid subscriptions to the site will be making their way to market. Prices range from $1 to $5 a month, making it feasible for even the tightest budget.

Without YouTube, it is unlikely that certain videos including Sweet Brown’s “Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That” and PSY’s “Gangnam Style” would have spread around the world like wildfire like they have.

So, from us at TMC, your customer base around the world and Sweet Brown herself, here’s to your eighth birthday and many more YouTube!