Google has launched a new YouTube channel designed to offer guidance to businesses on how to survive the ongoing financial downturn.

Survival of the Fastest is a collaborative effort between the search engine giant, the London Business School and the Daily Telegraph and features video content from internet consultants and several major figures from the worlds of business and politics.

Among this number are London mayor Boris Johnson and Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the Internet Advertising Bureau.

Individual users and businesses are encouraged to subscribe to the channel and comment on posted videos and upload their own in reply.

At present, Survival of the Fastest content is split up into three separate categories - marketing, finance and e-commerce.

The launch follows a new study by University of Melbourne research, which indicated that employees who are allowed to use social networking websites such as YouTube while at work may be more productive than their restricted counterparts.

As long as these workers do not spend over 20 per cent of their day browsing the internet for personal purposes, the difference in productivity levels could be as much as nine per cent, the report said.