The Internet sensation that is YouTube is expected to carry on its online success having debuted as a movie rental outlet last week.

YouTube currently has partnerships with productions companies who let them rent movies through their site.

The first five films available to rent through YouTube will cost jus under four dollars for a 48-hour viewing period.

But, movie studios will be able to set their own prices, with rental viewing windows ranging from one day to three months.

YouTube will get an unspecified commission from each rental sold.

Currently, YouTube are encourage many studios to rent movies through its site, hoping to eventually create a new financial stream to supplement the internet ads that bring in most of its revenue.

The evolution marks the next step in the quirky, content ridden websites history, and a sign of the way DVD rentals will pan out in the future.

It was only a matter of time before movies were rented, and watched online, but very few thought it would be YouTube who would pioneer the movement.

The new move is also expected to be financially handsome for YouTube with a 50 per cent increase in profit expected over the next six months. Last year the website made 700 million dollars and hopes to eclipse that in 2010.

However, if YouTube still doesn’t tickle your fancy, there are still plenty of places to rent movies that can be downloaded or streamed over high-speed internet connections such as Apple’s iTunes store, Netflix and Amazon.com