GOOGLE Inc.’s YouTube, the video Web site that’s working to become profitable, said it is recording more than 1 billion views a day.

YouTube’s bandwidth has increased along with the quality of videos shown on the site, Chad Hurley, the site’s chief executive officer, said in a blog posting. Google acquired the San Bruno, California-based company three years ago for $1.65 billion.

Demand for longer, full-length content means YouTube is showing more movies and TV shows, and is focusing on improving quality and expanding tools for content partners and advertisers, Hurley said. More users who post videos are also looking to turn their “hobby into a real business,” he said.

Google’s sites accounted for more than 10 billion videos viewed in the US in August, 40 percent of the market, according to research firm ComScore Inc. Microsoft Corp., its closest competitor, showed 546.5 million.

Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, said in July he is optimistic about YouTube turning a profit. The company, based in Mountain View, California, doesn’t break out revenue for the site.

Google rose $2.07 to $516.25 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. It has climbed 68 percent this year.

YouTube, which gets the bulk of its videos from users, is adding professionally produced material to lure more advertisers. The site agreed in August to carry excerpts from Time Warner Inc.’s CNN Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. In June, it premiered the movie “Home,” the first simultaneous Internet and theater debut.

YouTube also was in talks with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment about starting an online movie rental service, people familiar with the talks said last month. The service would compete with online film rentals offered by Amazon.com Inc. and Apple’s iTunes. (Bloomberg)