How will YouTube go from time-waster to money-maker? The strategy became a bit more clear as the site launched a branded "channel" featuring Paris Hilton today. The Paris channel, which is paid for by the Hilton label, Warner Bros. Records, a division of Warner Music Group, is the first of many planned pay-for-placement channels on the site, according to TechCrunch. Fox is advertising its television show "Prison Break" on the Paris pages.

It would be tempting to say that YouTube has sold out, but the site has always been a unapologetically pop phenomenon. And, of course, if anyone knows how to turn the -- ahem -- exposure gained through viral video into a business, it's Hilton, who parlayed her online sex-tape infamy into lucrative advertising deals, like those seamy Carl's Jr. commercials.

But will the new channels pay YouTube's million-dollar bandwidth bills? Mashable says yes: "Despite all the anti-hype around YouTube and the recurring question of 'Where's the business model?', I think it's pretty clear that YouTube is a powerful branding platform -- and not just for stars like Paris Hilton." Though the early returns are barely in, Mashable's instincts appear on target. The Paris Channel as already been viewed over 44,000 times and gotten hundreds of adoring comments.