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June 30, 2008
If Google Gives You Comics...While the announcement of the Seth "Family Guy" MacFarlane link to Google was not new, the way in which Google has announced it will distribute and monetize reflects a deeper reach for the online media behemoth. Google is going into the content production space.
The caveat about this is the actual information given for advertisers about publishers and their audience.
As NYT reports: "The innovative part involves the distribution plan. Google will syndicate the program using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of Web sites that are predetermined to be gathering spots for Mr. MacFarlane’s target audience, typically young men."
The question is how are they determining the target audience? Topic-based decision or cookie-based?
Is Google making an across-the-board push to present as many of the new methods that they want to use to track, distribute and develop traffic? Are they headed for a period of controversy and legal challenges?
Hey, they have weathered them so far in numerous continents, so maybe they have it written into their growth program.
The creation of an online-only broadcast of popular content is interesting for the US, where over-the-air television goes digital early next year. The use of the Family Guy creator, popular with a large number of internet users and online spenders, is a smart move, if when the smoke clears they can monetize it in acceptable ways.
I am waiting for the day when Google and Yahoo are bidding for online presentation of the Olympics. Right now, it seems NBC is starting their Olympic online connection.
Bob Costas was pushing people off the TV and onto the NBC Olympics sites to follow the rest of the Swimming Olympic trials Sunday night. His closing was " Bob Costas telling people to turn off TV and watch online live Olympic trials. "if you are not online already online, fire up those computers and start watching."
In the meantime, I look forward to the new characters from MacFarlane.
Posted by Frank Watson at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
February 14, 2008
Google to Test Video Ads on SERPsGoogle has begun testing video ads on its search results pages, according to a report in the New York Times. Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of search products and user experience, told the Times that just as video ads are not effective on pages of text-based search results, text ads are not effective on search results with more multimedia elements, like Google's universal search results.
“With universal search, something is getting shaken up a bit on the bottom part of the page,” Mayer said. “The ads on the top part of the page should match.”
Initially, video ads will not be apparent to searchers until they take action. Text ads with accompanying videos will be marked with a plus sign. Clicking on that plus sign will expand the video ad, just as clicking on the plus sign in some local results expands to include a map.
Observant search marketers will not be surprised, as Mayer alluded to this in May when Google launched universal search. At that time, Mayer responded to a question about the potential effect on ads with, "This opens the door for introducing richer media into the search results pages."
Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:06 PM | Permalink
December 20, 2007
Free Google Flip Video Camcorder --No purchase necessaryOK, strike "no purchase necessary." Free Flip video camcorder: "big purchase necessary?"
Google gave big-time advertisers and SEMs (whose clients spend big) a Flip Video Ultra Series camcorder with recording time up to 30 min. and 1GB internal memory.
Search marketer Shimon Sandler recorded an Oscar-worthy short film (YouTubed) of his Google Video Ultra gift being unwrapped. You'll watch the film again and again, if only to get into the Xmas spirit of green envy that children of all ages feel during the Holiday Season.
Google Flip flopped with all the SEMs who only received Google 2GB USB memory cards instead of the Google Flip (with MSRP of $149.99!). The 2GoogleByte USB card was described by our friends at SERoundtable as more or less a lump of coal -- way inferior to last year's Google gift gadget: a sweet digital picture frame.
It would seem only the FTC approves of Google acquisitions these days.
Here at Search Engine Watch, we'll be providing the P.O. Box for Google Customer Returns and the address of the secret Google Gift Exchange location.
Posted by Kevin Heisler at 6:46 PM | Permalink
December 18, 2007
Google Listening To SEW Blog? Offers Video SitemapsA few days ago SEW Blogger Deborah Richman wrote an article about how tough it was to find videos through the search engines. Yesterday Google announced it now offers Video Sitemaps.
Coincidence maybe.... I tend to think they took our advice.
The new product is "an extension of the Sitemap Protocol that helps make your videos more searchable via Google Video Search," their blog post explained.
As Debbie wrote: "Despite all the search options available, only 33% of consumers find videos to watch through search engines. In addition, 34% of consumers are frustrated when trying to discover videos, and some 62% say it takes them at least a few minutes or more to find videos that interest them."
Though Google claims it was an "effort to help users search all the world's public videos", I believe they took the few days following Debbie's post and added it as a feature.
Nice job Deb! Now if we can only get them to open the algorithm up for public inspection.......
Posted by Frank Watson at 4:46 PM | Permalink
September 10, 2007
TurnHere announces new video distribution partnerships and productsToday TurnHere, the online video enterprise, announced their expansion in the video search space new distribution partnerships with book-centric sites and an enhanced video gadget for improving on the book search experience.
My new blog features an interview with TurnHere's CEO Bradley Inman, along with in in-depth review of TurnHere's claims of "deep partnerships" with the major search portals, along with a review of their new book widget technology.
Posted by Grant Crowell at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 7, 2007
Google discusses multimedia ads in Universal Search resultsGoogle executives discussed the possibility of bundling image or video ads into Google Universal Search, during the CitiGroup Technology Conference in New York this past Thursday.
As reported by Tameka Kee at MediaPost, Google's group business product manager Nicholas Fox says that Google has had internal discussions on how to incorporate visual advertisements in search engine results pages (SERPs) that best match search query relevancy.
According to Sundar Pinchai, Google's director of product managment, Images and video have the potential to be more relevant than simple text ads in at least some situations, but cautions that "the images and video ads you see today on content networks are not what will work." Incorporating these type of ads in SERPs could lead to ad blindness and hurt business in the long-term.
While Google's comments suggest that multimedia advertising will eventually be established to some degree in universal search results, they are not something for advertisers to include in their plans for this year. Google says that any approach they undertake with incorporating multimedia ads will be slow, cautionary, and incremental.
Currently, Google allows advertisers to run both video and image ads in their Contextual network, which is separate from search. Those ads, along with text ads, have been claimed by search advertisers of having lower content relevancy than with SERPs. While Google has been making some appeasements with adjustment ad pricing and network placement control advertisers in the contextual program, advertisers already feel their multimedia creatives would be much better suited directly to search.
Will all things considered, Google is correct in determining that ad relevancy for multimedia will have to be higher when showing up on its own search pages than how they currently have them on 3rd party sites.
Posted by Grant Crowell at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 13, 2007
Google shuts down paid video clipsGoogle announced that they will end their experiment with paid programming on their video search engine come August 15th. Google will instead concentrate their video monetization efforts on developing ad supported models more suited to online video, perhaps deviating from the standard static, text-based messages.
As the AP reports, "to compensate customers who will no longer be able to see the videos that they purchased, Google is providing refunds in the form of credits that can be used on its online payment service, Checkout."
Update: It appears that Google may have acted in advance of their originally announced August 15 date and already phased out its paid program. No instances of paid video clips options appear when doing a check in Google Video's Advanced Video Search feature and selecting and narrowing the selection to "Price > For Sale."
Posted by Grant Crowell at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 14, 2007
Google Video Expands Focus on SearchGoogle Video had been comprised of videos that were submitted by users, or uploaded by content providers for purchase. It appears that Google has revamped its idea of what Google Video should be, and that is a Web-wide video search engine.
Back in January, Google began integrating YouTube videos into Google Video results, and said at the time that the strategy for Google Video and YouTube would be to continue to play to their respective strengths. They plan to continue pushing YouTube as an entertainment destination and community site, and Google Video as a search tool. Ultimately, most user-generated and premium video will be hosted on YouTube, with Google focusing on video search, monetization and distribution.
That plan has moved forward this week, according to Google spokesperson Gabriel Stricker:
Now we've made even more progress towards realizing that vision. On Google Video, users will now be able to watch videos from various websites via a web crawl. For those videos which were not uploaded to YouTube or Google, users will be able to see a thumbnail image of that video and then have the ability to be redirected to where the video is hosted in order to watch it in its entirety.This week, Ionut Alex Chitu at Google Operating System has spotted some changes to Google Video, and Philipp Lenssen at Google Blogoscoped follows up with more details.
Lenssen writes: it looks like Google realized their strengths and finally turned Google Video into an actual web-wide video search engine: the latest update will not only incorporate results from different sources, like YouTube, Vimeo.com, CollegeHumor, eBaumsWorld, MetaCafe, Google Video itself, Yahoo Video or MySpace... it will also present those in a new frame wrapper, similar to what you’ll be used to at Google Images.
When Google launched its Universal Search results last month, it began showing thumbnail video results from third parties like Metacafe, as well as full inline video results from YouTube and Google Video.
In Google Video results now, users will see up to 15 thumbnails in a javascript slide-open window. This is part of the broader goal to innovate "video crawl," Stricker said, which lets users search for online video content irrespective of where it may be hosted.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:14 PM | Permalink
February 20, 2007
Viacom Choose Joost Over GoogleViacom announced it is using Joost - the peer to peer platform - to distribute its content, instead of Google's YouTube.
A Joost press release stated, "Viacom will be a key content partner and will offer a full range of brands and programming for free to consumers on the innovative Joost distribution platform. Under the agreement, Viacom's divisions - MTV Networks, BET Networks and Paramount Pictures - will provide television and theatrical programming on the Joost platform".
Currently still in beta, "Joost will allow users to have free access to thousands of programs and channels not readily available on the Web. Through Joost, viewers can watch programming from many of Viacom's brands on their computers through a customizable platform with advanced television viewing features such as links that lead to more information or related websites based on the content; and a variety of plug-in applications, such as instant messaging, message boards, and news tickers" the company press release stated.
Founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis - the team that brought us Skype, Joost is powered by a secure, efficient, piracy-proof Internet platform that enables premium interactive video experiences while guaranteeing copyright protection for content owners and creators.
Negotiations between Viacom and YouTube to partner in this area had been discontinued over a month ago, according to reports.
Posted by Frank Watson at 3:06 PM | Permalink
January 25, 2007
Google Video Searches Integrate YouTube ContentSince closing its acquisition of YouTube in November, Google has not done much to integrate or lay out its plan to differentiate Google Video and YouTube. That changed today, when Google started showing YouTube video results in the Google Video search index. When users click on YouTube thumbnails, they'll be taken to YouTube.com to watch the videos.
According to a YouTube spokesperson, the strategy for Google Video and YouTube is to continue to play to their respective strengths. They plan to continue pushing YouTube as an entertainment destination and community site, and Google Video as a search tool. Ultimately, most user-generated and premium video will be hosted on YouTube, with Google focusing on video search, monetization and distribution.
YouTube will remain an independent subsidiary of Google, and will continue to operate separately. Google will support YouTube by providing access to search and monetization platforms and to future international resources.
Google shares more details at the Google blog.
Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:05 PM | Permalink
January 8, 2007
Online video usage increasing as TV viewing declinesSafa Rashtchy, Managing Director and Senior Internet Analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., has just reported the results of their latest survey of online users, which suggests that video usage is rapidly increasing, while TV viewing is declining. Google's YouTube is the top destination for video, ahead of TV Networks, with Google Video itself in the third place.
Rashtchy says this "suggests the mainstreaming of video usage is going beyond just amateur videos." He adds, "While YouTube became popular because of its variety of user-generated videos, we believe YouTube has now established a solid position as the main destination for video consumption overall. Further, with a proper strategy, YouTube could secure the top market share as video consumption expands."
Posted by Greg Jarboe at 10:48 AM | Permalink
December 20, 2006
YouTube and Google Video Subscriptions in Outlook EmailIn October 2006 comScore Media Metrix ) reported that more than 63 million people worldwide, age 15 and over, visited YouTube.com. Fueling this growth are the 65,000 new videos being uploaded daily just to YouTube. Among the tools available for users looking for ways to manage the increasing flood of video content is the new inclue! Media Inbox, version 1.2 that integrates with the Outlook email program.
The inclue! Media Inbox is one of a few RSS (real simple syndication) readers that can be used with Outlook and Outlook Express. It includes features whereby users can enter a keyword search and get video updates delivered from Google Video and YouTube. Inclue! also supports audio. Viewers can create their own channels and view the videos or listen to the audio directly in Outlook.
You Tube and Google Video are all about sharing video experiences. The phenomenal growth of video-sharing sites and the number of videos being added to these sites daily has created a need for tools like inclue! that will enable users to better manage video content. Today, video content can be shared through email, embedded in blogs or posted to a site either as individual videos or as part of playlists. Viewers can subscribe to RSS feeds of their favorite video channels. They can even create their own playlists and receive alerts with tools like inclue!. when new video is posted.
Effective distribution and optimization of video content today relies heavily on the tagging that users add when posting a new video. The more accurate the tags are on each video, the easier the video is to find. With the growth of tools like inclue! it is incumbent on search marketers to develop a rich understanding of emerging tactics for video search optimization.
Posted by Amanda Watlington at 8:33 AM | Permalink
December 12, 2006
Gambling NO; Gamblers' Lifestyle Video Partnership YesGoogle may not allow companies to advertise online gambling sites in the United States, but they will carry the sponsored videos of the Players Network's lifestyles and other gambling related content, according to BusinessWire at Miranda's BroadcastNewsRoom.
The article, interestingly topped Google's News listing for Google news!
Is this something I am just starting to notice or have there been a lot of 'urban legendish' articles in various places lately? Let me know here.
Posted by Frank Watson at 11:04 PM | Permalink
November 24, 2006
Google Video France Sued For Copyright InfringementReuters reports Google France was sued by Flach Film, a French film producer, for copyright infringement. They claim their video, "The World According to Bush," was published on Google Video France, and viewed more 50,000 times, before Google removed the video. The French film producer estimates $648,700 in prejudice but Google said "our terms and conditions specify that users (Internet surfers) don't have permission to use videos which they don't own the rights to."
Google has put away $200M for copyright case legal issues with the YouTube acquisition.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:05 AM | Permalink
November 13, 2006
Google Video Getting Caption Search; Customizing The Player & More FeaturesThis weekend, the Google Operating System blog wrote up a trifecta on Google Video. It explained that Google Video is apparently to allow you to search inside videos by matching captioning information, if provided. Eventually, Google Video keyword alters are also to be offered. Google OS also highlighted that Google is offering more stats on a particular video's usage, such as number of views, the overall rank, the number of views from yesterday, yesterday's rank and more. Finally, Google OS showed ways to customize the embedded Google Video player to make it larger, smaller, loop, add send buttons and other features. Interesting bits of information and great finds.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:59 AM | Permalink
November 10, 2006
Battelle "Grilled" Schmidt On Google Video, Google Docs & MorePC Magazine has an excellent write up on John Battelle's interview with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google at the Web 2.0 conference named Google's Schmidt Grilled At Conference . John Battelle (which PC Mag spelled wrong), sat with Eric Schmidt for 30 minutes and asked him tough questions on YouTube, Google Docs & Spreadsheets and more. For example, Battelle asked, "So why did you buy YouTube? Was Google Video not doing well?" Battelle then noted that Google Docs and Spreadsheets were a Microsoft Office replacement, in which Schmidt replied, "We don't see it as a replacement of Office. The focus we have is not the focus they have." Battelle's response to that is the focus is that it is free. I wonder what the audience reaction was to this interview?
Postscript: Danny has coverage on the Web 2.0 conference from earlier this week here.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:23 AM | Permalink
November 9, 2006
Google Video Sued, Plus More Info From New SEC FilingThe Associate Press reports that Google Video was actually sued for copyright infringement but yet, Google did not reveal who actually sued them. The lawsuit was disclosed by Google via a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (link via Gary, but we do not know much more. PaidContent reports (site currently down), that Google may loan YouTube money prior to closing the deal with them, in order to help them settle or battle certain lawsuits.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:02 AM | Permalink
Google Sends Porn Worm To 50,000+ Subscribers'Porn' worm sent to 50,000 after Google blunder from Silicon.com covers how Google accidentally sent a worm to the official Google Video Blog email list
The worm apparently, which came in the form of pornography sent to the group, which had over 50,000 subscribers at the time. The Kama Sutra email, also known as W32/Kapser.A worm, was "designed to overwrite files on infected computers on a specific date."
If you got this email and downloaded the file, it is important that you run antivirus software on your computer. Google promised to try to not do that again.
Postscript From Danny: Google has a post about it here, which gives them a chance to pitch getting free antivirus software through the Google Pack.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 7:43 AM | Permalink
November 8, 2006
Google Video Adds Rating Sort & Label Search FilterThe Google Video Blog announced that they have added two new search features. The first feature is to allow you to sort a search query by user ratings. The second feature allows you to search by keyword and append a label (tag) you want to filter that search by.
An example of sorting by rating is if you search on anything, and then by default Google "sorts by relevance." But you can click on that sort option and change it to "by date" or "by rating."
An example of searching a keyword and filtering by label would be label:basketball jordan but for some reason only one result comes up, I have tried others like label:basketball bryant and nothing comes up. Google's example is for label:soccer zidane and that, of course, works nicely.
Postscript: I know see that only 4 videos are labeled with basketball so that is why the results I listed above are disappointing.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:56 AM | Permalink
November 1, 2006
Watch Full Length Current & Classic NHL Games on Google VideoAs a longtime Vancouver Canucks fan, I can vividly remember the 1994 Stanley Cup Game 7 where unfortunately, they lost the Cup to the New York Rangers. Now, thanks to Google Video, you can now watch classic NHL hockey games like that one as well as all the current NHL games on their new NHL Google Video section. These are all full length videos of each game and you can easily click on your favorite teams to check out the games that are currently available. Go Canucks!
Posted by Jennifer Slegg at 2:31 PM | Permalink
October 31, 2006
Google Video Shares Ad Revenue With Video AuthorsNews.com reports that Google is sharing most of the ad revenue earned on select Google Videos with the contributors of those videos. Specifically, the authors of the "The Diet Coke & Mentos Experiment II" (which is really cool) will be getting "most advertising revenue generated by the latest video." Pretty cool.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:18 AM | Permalink
October 26, 2006
Watch Google Videos On Your Mobile DeviceSpotted on News.com, you can now watch Google Video's on your mobile phone. This is a third part application created by Scott Robbin (not Google) where you can visit http://srobbin.com/mobilevideo/ on your mobile device, conduct a search and then watch the video. The requirements are:
+ Your phone has an XHTML-compliant browser + You have enough storage on your phone to hold large files + Your phone’s connection is fast + You have an application on your phone capable of playing AVI or MP4 files
Here is a demonstration Scott posted on YouTube (interesting why he didn't post it on Google Video). :)
More details at Scott Robbin's Blog.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:48 AM | Permalink
October 13, 2006
Upload Videos To Google's PicasaPhilipp Lenssen reports that you can upload your videos to Google's Picasa web albums if you wanted to. Philipp links to this sample video of a kid doing chin ups. As an FYI, you can now upload videos to Google Video, YouTube (soon to be owned by Google) and now Google's Picasa. Options, options and more options -- too much?
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:58 AM | Permalink
October 11, 2006
MySpace Threatens YouTube After Google's BuyoutA Wall Street Journal article shows how the folks over at News Corp., the owners of MySpace.com, have threatened to cut "off the MySpace links to YouTube" because YouTube didn't respond to News Corp's email request to have an "opportunity to participate in the sale process." Google with YouTube and News Corp. with MySpace are to meet this week in LA to "discuss new ways of working together." The Wall Street Journal explains that News Corp. is threatened by the acquisition of YouTube by Google, making YouTube a much more powerful competitor to the MySpace property.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:44 AM | Permalink
October 10, 2006
Recapping Coverage Of Google's Acquisition Of YouTubeI don't have a ton to say about the Google acquisition of YouTube. That's because to me, it's more an eyeball landgrab than a search development. There's no doubt people search for video on YouTube, and getting the leading property will help Google. But the searching isn't the deep dive video search involving transcripts linked to video clips or other technological advances you might think Google would want in a more in a true search deal. This, to me, is basically YouTube as a hot property that Google hasn't been able to replicate with its own Google Video.
In particular, Google sees online video ads as a big step forward in generating revenue (rather than organizing information). Getting YouTube makes much sense, in that regard. YouTube has the eyeballs watching video. Google wants to shove ads in front of those eyeballs.
Various people see sense in YouTube diving for the copyright cover that Google's somehow supposedly going to extend. I don't know what super copyright protection technology they're expecting Google to cook up. To date, Google has had plenty of copyright violations it struggles with.
Overall, the biggest takeaway for me is how the YouTube purchase is the end of an era of Google buying small. To date, most purchases have been tiny. But with loads of cash in its pockets, Google's jumped into the second round of billion dollar purchases of web sites that's been going on.
Some headlines from the ample coverage out there that particularly caught my eye.
- Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock - Press release covering the $1.65 billion all stock deal leaving YouTube to operate independently, with the deal to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
- Google-YouTube WebCast - Follow the links on this page to watch the press conference from yesterday. Ironically, I can't find the conference having been posted to Google Video or YouTube. A Message From Chad and Steve is a video message about the sale from YouTube's cofounders.
- SeekingAlpha's Google Transcripts - Transcripts of Google's financial discussions often posted here. So far, one from the deal is not up. That might change, though perhaps not, since this wasn't an earnings call.
- Google to Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion - New York Times overview coverage, noting that Microsoft, Yahoo, Viacom and News Corporation were also interested. YouTube to stay mainly independent. YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley said his company wanted to stay independent and the sale makes it "still the case." We'll see.
- Google Looks To Boost Ads With YouTube - Wall Street Journal overview coverage, paid subscription required. Nice chart on some past Google acquisitions. Nice detail on YouTube rejecting an earlier lower offer from Google and Yahoo's 24 hour offer expiring, with Yahoo having concerns about copyright and revenue issues. Touches on the deal threatening to create a rift between Google and News Corp, which owns MySpace, the biggest property in the ad deal Google and News Corp signed in August.
- Google to buy YouTube in its biggest deal yet - Reuters overview coverage.
- Google snaps up YouTube for $1.65B - Associated Press overview coverage.
- Google acquires YouTube for $1.65 billion - Niall Kennedy points out how the purchase price is similar to eBay's huge acquisition price of PayPal.
- What Google's YouTube deal means for Microsoft - Seattle Press Intelligencer looks at Microsoft thinking Google paid too much.
- I still think Google is crazy :) - Mark Cuban figures one copyright lawsuit will put Google out of business. Perhaps. Then again, we heard that about click fraud. What happened? Google paid an incredibly tiny amount to wipe out click fraud exposure in the US and continues to rake in the profits. Google does have digital rights management on video it sells, unlike what he says. And since YouTube apparently has one copyright case against it already, Google's already getting into that hot water now. Time will tell how it plays out.
- YouTube, your copyright and Google - News.com has a nice look at copyright issues with YouTube, such as takedown notices and automatic detection.
- Google YouTube Conference Call - Search Engine Journal with conference call coverage.
- Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion - Silicon Valley Watcher with conference call coverage.
- First Blush on GooTube - Conference Call - John Battelle with some conference call coverage. I'm with him on the point that Blogger was an out-of-brand purchase for Google, as was Deja before that -- but neither approached this scale or degree of autidence.
- Google/YouTube Conference Call - InsideGoogle with conference call coverage.
- GOOG-YouTube: Conference Call: No Name Change; Audio - PaidContent on conference call coverage.
- Google Purchases YouTube for $1.65B - Google Watch, with this quote from the conference call from Sergey Brin: "We spend a lot of time working on our two core areas of search and advertising," said Brin. "And when you think about search, when you want an explanation about something, what better way than to actually see it in video?" Also notes Google Video's not going away.
- Google Acquires YouTube, Becomes the Archetypal Media Company - The story's pretty short, but I liked this headline and Publishing 2.0. Yes, spare us the argument Google's not a media company. YouTube is simply another way Google will effectively own lots and lots of media to show ads.
- One way to look at it - Very short post by Blogger founder Evan Williams, and right on target: "It's a great example of how and why a focused startup can compete with the big guys. Google not only had a video product that was a competitor, they started it before YouTube existed. Then YouTube came along an kicked their butt into paying through the nose for them." Googlers are surprised from him also notes three Googlers expressing disbelief or amazement.
- Deal creates new Valley stars - San Jose Mercury News with good backstory on the birth of YouTube.
Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:08 AM | Permalink
October 9, 2006
Google To Acquire YouTube In Stock TransactionIt's real and was just confirmed. It's a stock transaction that will close in Q4 and will enable YouTube to operate independently. See below for the full text of the release.
Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock
Combination Will Create New Opportunities for Users and Content Owners Everywhere
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., October 9, 2006 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has agreed to acquire YouTube, the consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.
The acquisition combines one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment communities with Google's expertise in organizing information and creating new models for advertising on the Internet. The combined companies will focus on providing a better, more comprehensive experience for users interested in uploading, watching and sharing videos, and will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new audience.
"The YouTube team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful,” said Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google. “Our companies share similar values; we both always put our users first and are committed to innovating to improve their experience. Together, we are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers.”
“Our community has played a vital role in changing the way that people consume media, creating a new clip culture. By joining forces with Google, we can benefit from its global reach and technology leadership to deliver a more comprehensive entertainment experience for our users and to create new opportunities for our partners,” said Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube. “I’m confident that with this partnership we’ll have the flexibility and resources needed to pursue our goal of building the next-generation platform for serving media worldwide.” When the acquisition is complete, YouTube will retain its distinct brand identity, strengthening and complementing Google’s own fast-growing video business. YouTube will continue to be based in San Bruno, CA, and all YouTube employees will remain with the company. With Google’s technology, advertiser relationships and global reach, YouTube will continue to build on its success as one of the world's most popular services for video entertainment.
The number of Google shares to be issued in the transaction will be determined based on the 30-day average closing price two trading days prior to the completion of the acquisition. Both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Webcast and Conference Call Information The company will host a conference call and webcast at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) today to discuss the acquisition. To access the conference call, please dial 800-289-0572 domestic and 913-981-5543 internationally. A replay of the call will be available until midnight Monday, October 16 at 888-203-1112 domestically and 719-457-0820 internationally. Confirmation code for the replay is 2260624.
A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available at http://investor.google.com/webcast.html.
Postscript: I've posted some quotes and thoughts from the conference call on my blog as well as links to other commentaries.
Posted by Greg Sterling at 4:28 PM | Permalink
October 6, 2006
Google Acquisition Of YouTube RumorSpeculation about a potential acquisition of YouTube by Google is heating up. The Wall Street Journal reports and here's more coverage and buzz. Previously it was reported that Yahoo was in similar talks to buy the site. The rumor first appeared this morning on TechCrunch.
Posted by Greg Sterling at 12:13 PM | Permalink
September 19, 2006
Google & Apple To Do Content, Ad Deals?Google and Apple in iTV content talks from The Register covers how Google (according to Newsweek) may be providing video clips for Apple's "iTV," announced at last week's Apple developers conference. Meanwhile, Apple is about to break big into ad sales from Valleywag covers a rumor ad partnership between Apple and Google. Valleywag says Apple will soon carry Google ads on its web sites and within iTunes. I guess Google's CEO joining the Apple board does make the two companies more friendly. Google will be providing video content to Apple and plus help Apple monetize their products and content with Google Ads - wow!
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:30 AM | Permalink
September 7, 2006
Google Wants To Launch Google Video In JapanReuters reports that Google is eager to launch the Google Video product in Japan. Google Japan's President Norio Murakami said, "We haven't yet been able to introduce Google Video in Japan, and hope to do so soon. Going forward, Google's services can't work without cooperation from contents partners." But it appears Google Japan is serious about launching Google Video in Japan soon.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:39 AM | Permalink
August 22, 2006
Google's Audio PlayerPhilipp notes as does Ionut Alex that with the release of voicemail on Google Talk, you can now use that feature to play audio files over Google's network. Philipp describes a method of easily doing this. One thing to note, as a Mac user. This does not rendered on Apple's Safari web browser, even thought Google Video works fine.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:03 AM | Permalink
August 14, 2006
Google To Allow Pornographic Movies In Google Video?TechCrunch wrote that Google has recently removed the term "pornographic" from the restrictions on uploading videos. It is now just a restriction on “obscene” material, with an added categorization for "mature and adult" content. TechCrunch also believes Google removed a checkbox confirmation that said, "video is not pornographic or obscene material." Philipp Lenssen also notes this, and added commentary by Donna Bogatin at News.com.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:01 AM | Permalink
August 10, 2006
Google Video Replaces Froogle & Expandable More Link Added To Google Home PagePhilipp Lenssen spotted that on Google.com, they have removed Froogle, added Video and added a "more" link that opens up some more options, including "books," "froogle," "groups," and "even more." We have seen the expandable more link tested in the past, looks like it has made it to the front page.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:05 AM | Permalink
August 8, 2006
Google Adds Video Tab to Related LinksThe Google Blog announced that Google has added a new tab within the Related Links product for video. Google Videos, related to your content, will be embedded in the Related Links tab, if you so desire to have them shown.
Below, I have embedded Related Links with Video to show as an example:
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:57 AM | Permalink
August 7, 2006
Google & Viacom Partner In Video Ad TestVia the NY Times, Google and Viacom have partnered to place Viacom video clips (MTV and other clips) on web site owner pages. The video clips will contain ads from Viacom, which Google and site owns will share the revenues from. These tests are to begin towards the end of the month. This is the first step, I bet, to AdWords on TV. Last week we reported that Google Radio is coming to XM Satellite Radio, so TV isn't so far fetched.
FYI - sorry for short posts, SES San Jose is today and coverage will be slow. Towards the end of the day, I will post headlines with stories we read but didn't have time to cover.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:39 AM | Permalink
August 2, 2006
Start Google Videos At A Specific Point In TimeThe Google Video blog announced a new feature that allows you to start your Google videos at a specific point in time. This comes in handy when you want to break out your large video into specific chapters or like a FAQs page. More details on the "how do I implement this feature" at the Google Video Blog.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:50 AM | Permalink
July 12, 2006
Google Video Launches In UK & Other CountriesSilicon reports that Google Video has launched a localized version in the UK at http://video.google.co.uk/. There are also localized versions in Canada, Deutschland, España, France, Italia, Nederland, and Polska.
Google's Joanna Shields, said in a statement: "By launching Google Video in these new markets we will enable more people in more countries to search for, upload and share video content in more languages."
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 12:43 PM | Permalink
June 29, 2006
Google Video Adds New FeaturesGoogle Video is letting now letting users add comments, labels and ratings to any video on the site. Yes, tagging by any other name.
From the press release:
Now users can associate three different types of content for each video: comments, ratings, and labels.
- Comments: Users can share ideas about a video through topic-based discussions. - Ratings: A quick evaluation of a video based on a five-star scale. A user can quickly view which videos have the highest ratings, and can just as easily rate a video. - Labels: Users can associate a video with a particular word or phrase that will help them and others find it at a later time.
Posted by Chris Sherman at 12:31 PM | Permalink
June 22, 2006
Google Testing Ad Supported Premium VideoGoogle is running a test offering about 2,000 premium videos available for free streaming viewing, inserting a persistent banner-type ad at the top of the screen and showing an additional post-roll video ad once the premium content has finished streaming. The test is expected to last about a week, according to Peter Chane, group business product manager, Google Video.
Currently, premium content on Google Video is available via a pay-to-own model that allows users to download and replay ad-free programming at any time. These videos usually cost between $0.99 and $14.99, but you own them once you pay for them. The test program only allows users to stream the content in real-time, and you can't save videos once viewed.
For this test, Google has allowed advertisers to choose the content that their ads are sponsoring. Likewise, content owners have the option to vet an advertiser to make sure the ad is appropriate for the content. Over time, Chane expects that this human-intensive process will become much more automated.
Google intends to run many similar tests over the course of the coming year. The goal is to find ways to expand the amount of premium content available on Google Video and see if free, ad-spondored content attracts certain types of viewing audiences, said Chane.
Posted by Chris Sherman at 8:41 PM | Permalink
June 14, 2006
New York State Sends Warning On Google Video ServiceResourceShelf notes a Red Herring article about the New York State Consumer Protection Board (CPB) warning parents about Google Video. The warning discussed that Google Video enables children to "easily access and view videos with sexual themes and off-color material" all for free. ResourceShelf also notes that the only video service mentioned in this warning is Google Video, not YouTube or Yahoo Video.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:18 AM | Permalink
June 9, 2006
Google Video Movers & Shakers (AKA Zeitgeist)David Krane posted that Google Video launched a new feature named Movers & Shakers. The Movers & Shakers feature is a page that shows you the most popular videos at Google Video. You can filter by which videos are most popular by country.
Currently the most popular video in the world at Google Video is 2001 Japanese Tetris Finals . But let's see what is the most popular video in Japan. You would think it would be the 2001 Japanese Tetris Finals but no, it is Cool TAK - I am so cool.
Postscript: Wanted to clarify this a bit more. Movers & Shakers are videos that are quickly rising in popularity. Today's Movers & Shakers could be tomorrow's Top 100. Movers & Shakers is one way to identify videos that are becoming viral. Google uses algorithms to identify videos that are suddenly becoming popular, and then rank them based on how popular they are and how suddenly they became popular.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:31 AM | Permalink
May 26, 2006
AOL Video Gets Google Video PromotionWay back when Google and AOL cut their partnership deal, AOL was to get promotion on Google Video. What, big flashing neon AOL banners? Actually, Google said it would be low-key. And that's pretty much what's been delivered. Gary Price noted earlier this week that a small AOL Video link had been added to the reverse bar of the Featured section of Google Video. Look over there on the right-hand side. You can't -- well, you can -- miss it.
Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:20 AM | Permalink
May 17, 2006
Google Video Makes It Easier & Faster To UploadForbes.com reports that Google has made a few tweaks to the Google Video service. You can now upload your videos without installing any additional software and the videos should be available to share with others in a much shorter time frame than it was a few days ago.
In the past, when you uploaded videos to Google, you had to wait about 24 hours to share those videos with others.
It is also important to note that AOL is working on a Google Video / YouTube.com produce of their own. More on that at SiliconBeat.com.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:19 AM | Permalink
March 30, 2006
Google Adds Continuous Playback to Google VideoPhilipp Lenssen reports that Google Video has added continuous playback. What that means, if is you are watching a specific video you searched on, after that video ends, Google will show you a random video by default right after. It is suggested that Google added this default feature to add a stickiness factor to Google Video, if the videos keep playing the Web users will stick around. But, there are problems with this as Nathan Weinberg points out; watching a video of Rabbis, followed by a video about lesbians kissing - just doesn't sit right with many.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:07 AM | Permalink
March 20, 2006
Google Updated Video PlayerGarett Rogers also has the scoop on Google updating the Google Video player to version 1.0.1.0. The most noticeable changes are;
+ Clickable frame-by-frame display + Cleaner user interface, "particularly the menubar" + Added Alt-key shortcuts for every menu item
Here is the full list of updated features and bug fixes on Google Video Player 1.0.1.0:
+ Rendering optimizations, including support for DirectX + Rendering optimizations in OpenGL (display lists) + Upgraded to Qt 4.1 (i.e. performance improvements) + Initialization optimization (sparse files) + Provided Alt-key shortcuts for every menu item + Fixed clicking on volume control, but not on slider thumb + Improved login robustness (retry logic) + Fixed installer license text + Fixed several hangs and crashes + Fixed audio stuttering on low-end devices + Better error handling, including disk space check + Better seeks, including true frame-by-frame display + Polished the GUI, particularly the menubar
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:40 AM | Permalink
March 14, 2006
Google Idol: Vote For The Next Google Video Music StarPhilipp Lenssen finds a new site named Google Idol that utilizes Google Video to pin singer versus singer. The site seems to pick Google Videos of individuals who have uploaded videos of them lip singing. The videos are posted side by side, and they battle it out, head to head, based on user submitted voting. As you can imagine, many of the videos are pretty funny, competing virtually in this "American Idol"-style contest.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:16 AM | Permalink
March 13, 2006
Google Alpha Release for Google Video RSS FeedsGoogle has released an alpha (not even beta) release of RSS feeds for Google Video, as reported at ThreadWatch. The popular video feed can be access at http://video.google.com/videofeed?type=popular&num=20&output=rss and the for an RSS feed for video search use http://video.google.com/videofeed?type=search&q=keyword+here&num=20&output=rss.
In both cases, the "num" parameter can take any value from 1 to 100.In the case of search, the "q" parameter is the search query, and so can be anything you might see in a Google Video search URL. Furthermore, any other parameters that are accepted by Google Video search (e.g. for sort order) can be used here.
This is great news for the Google Video junky!
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:51 AM | Permalink
March 9, 2006
Google Subpoenaed to Reveal Identity of Person Who Posted at Google VideoAccording to the MercuryNews.com, Google has been subpoenaed by American Airlines to hand over the identity of the individual who posted a copyrighted training video. The video was titled "Flight Attendant, Upside Down" and was available for viewing at Google Video, but has now been removed. Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation said that Google will most likely be required to "comply" with American Airlines request.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:46 AM | Permalink
March 8, 2006
Google Unites Its Own Videos On One PagePhilipp Lenssen over at Google Blogoscoped spotted a new Videos From The Googleplex area where Google is sharing its own in-house video content with the world. Oddly, a post on the Google Blog today mentions some of the individual videos there but not the overall area itself.
What will you find? Authors who've spoken at Google are now posted, such as the presentation that John Battelle gave that we mentioned before or a recent one from Yahoo alum Seth Godin. Last year's Google Factory Tour is also posted, along with other clips you'll find on this related page.
I like the Google Recruiting Video. It's not new, but it is very inspiring, so much so that I have a feeling many companies will soon create their own recruiting videos and have them hosted at Google Video.
Jen Fitzpatrick, Engineering Director at Google is the narrator of this video, she conducts interviews with different 'Googlers' (Google employees) asking specific questions about the benefits at working at Google. Here is the abstract from the Google Recruiting Video.
I've represented Google at many events for women in engineering, and I'm always asked the same thing: "What's it like to work there?" I certainly don't mind discussing the subject, but I often think it would be great if more people could see it for themselves. Well, now you can. We invite you to take a sneak peek inside Google and hear straight from some of our female engineers what life here is really like.
Of course, our goal of recruiting as many gifted female engineers as we can also means encouraging young women who are still in school. So I'd like to issue a hearty congrats to the winners of this year's Anita Borg scholarships.
What won't you find in the collection of video from Google? Apparently not the Google commercial played to Kansas City Royals fans that Danny found Google had put up itself earlier this year. It's now gone.
Larry Page's CES keynote is at Google Video here, but that's not been associated with the Videos From The Googleplex page.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 12:53 PM | Permalink
March 2, 2006
Google Video to Enable Sale of Personal Videos Shortly?Nathan Weinberg reports that BuyGoogle has been notified that the videos he posted to Google Video to sell online has moved from the status of "waiting to be verified" to "Video is verified; stay tuned - it will be live shortly." It makes logical sense, since we recently reported that Google Base to allow buying and selling.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 6:30 PM | Permalink
February 24, 2006
Google Video Adds US National Archives Historic Films to Google VideoThe Google Blog announced that Google Video has digitized and are hosting a collection 103 historic films from the US National Archives. Three samples include; - Allied patrols in action on Anzio beach - Reclamation and the Arid West - The Eagle Has Landed 1969 - Plus an additional one hundred
The full press release can be found here. Past related coverage from the Search Engine Watch includes; Google Makes Digitized Archive of Interviews with TV Legends Available Online & World Digital Library Project Announced, Backed By Library Of Congress & Google.
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 1:55 PM | Permalink
Google Video Adds Video CategoriesPhilipp Lenssen reports that Google added Google Video Categories. Visit http://video.google.com/ and look at the top of the page, you will notice these categories.
Popular Animation Educational News Google Picks Comedy Movies Sports Random Commercials Music videos TV shows
Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:18 AM | Permalink
January 25, 2006
Google Video Now Features Premier Content, New Design Corrects "Big Mistake"Bloomberg's Jonny Thaw's story: Google Says It Made Mistake in Design of Online Store, includes comments from Google's Marissa Mayer who said that the design of the Google Video home page (which received a makeover yesterday) didn't do a good job of promoting content that was available for sale from the new Google Video Store.
From the article: ``We made a big mistake, "Mayer, who oversees all of Google's search products, said yesterday. ``You can't come out and launch a product like Google Video and say `CSI' and `Survivor' are there if they're not on the home page.''
However, Mayer said the response to Google Video has been "absolutely fantastic."
The remainder of Thaw's article includes a number of stats from Nielsen//NetRatings including:
- Google's video site attracted 3.04 million U.S. users in December
- Microsoft Corp.'s MSN video had 9.46 million users
- Yahoo video site had 2.15 million
As far as iTunes go, Thaw also uses Nielsen//NetRatings numbers to report that iTunes has a user base of numbered 20.7 million and according to Apple, they've sold sold 8 million videos and TV shows since October, when the video iPod debuted.
Finally, Thaw points out that at this point copy protected material purchased from iTunes can be played on portable devices or laptops that are not connected to the Internet.
Other services in addition to iTunes including MovieLink, Vongo (my new fave), and CinemaNow (all three U.S. only services) do allow for offline viewing of downloaded content.
Brad Hill and Nathan Weinberg point out the new look of the Google Video Home Page. Both note that the new page offers 24 thumbnails of programming for sale. If you're interested in a comparison, here's a screen cap of the previous Google Video Home Page.
In terms of promoting video content for sale, shortly after the Google Video Store launched, Google was promoting content like CSI and NBA highlights with links on the primary Google home page. A post on Searchblog and then one on our site discussed if this was a promo for a Google service or an advertisement since the content being linked to was for sale.
Posted by Gary Price at 3:04 PM | Permalink
January 17, 2006
TV Transcripts and Still Images No Longer Part of Google VideoBoth Danny and I, independently of one and another noticed that the searchable transcripts (and still images) from television shows (via tv stations in the Bay Area as well as satellite broadcasters) are no longer available via Google Video.
A Google spokesperson has confirmed the removal of this content but says that the service, "may reappear at a later date."
They added: Users have told us that they really want to see playable video content, so for now we are phasing out the still-image television content from our search results. We continue to work with the owners of television content, and hope to make this an important part of Google Video in the future.
Television transcript search and still images were a part of Google Video since its first release on January 25, 2005. Here's the news release that announced the service.
I first noticed the removal of the material over the weekend when I wanted to find the transcript of Saturday Night Live where two more mentions of Google had just occurred.
The good news is that researchers can still access near real-time transcripts AND full motion video from a variety of services and for a variety of tv stations and networks. Services include:
+ BlinkxTV Transcript search available for some of their content partners.
+ Critical Mention (Fee-Based)
+ FedNet FedNet offers real time access to content from the U.S. Congress.
+ Finally, Yahoo Video offers transcript search and full motion video from Bloomberg Business Television via a partnership with TVEyes.
Posted by Gary Price at 4:36 PM | Permalink
January 16, 2006
Copyright Issues and Video SearchOm Malik has an interesting post about something we've mentioned here on the blog several times and that Om and I have chatted about via email, that being the amount of material found in video search engines that is in-copyright but readily accessible to view or download for free.
Some might call it video piracy.
What this means for the future of video search in general is an intersting issue that I'm sure we're going to be reading much more about in the future. Why? That's easy, money, and lots of it. Since more and more content is also for sale online via one of many services like iTunes or Google Video Store. If a copy of a movie or TV show is available for free will people still pay to download/rent/purchase the content? New services from TiVo and DirectTV will make the potential for sharing content even easier.
Om's post includes statements from Google and YouTube on the topic. From what I've learned (and these official comments reinforce) is that the burden to have in-copyright content removed from a video search engine is that of the copyright holder.
I'm thinking that tools and services to monitor and then have the proper requests sent to video search engines could be a big business not only here in the U.S. but worldwide.
Finally, Malik points to this just posted story that talks about the amount of Bollywood films available for free via one of many services.
Posted by Gary Price at 12:22 PM | Permalink
January 12, 2006
Ad or Promo? Google Pitching CSI, NBA Video On Google Home PageA reader of John's Searchblog points out that Google is now advertising or promoting (you decide) fee-based videos (CSI and the NBA) from the Google Video Store on the Google home page.
Since this is fee-based content, the Searchblog reader considers it an ad on the home page (not a promo). John adds that he can't see the advertisement/promo (you decide) on his computer but here in Maryland/DC area, I'm seeing it. Here's a screen cap. Also note the "promo" for the Google Pack.
Google is a company and it needs to make a profit. (-: Honestly, what I see today doesn't bother me. As Google grows and offers more fee-based services I'll bet we see more promos or ads (again, the decision is yours) for fee-based services (whatever they may be) on the home page. How can people use and purchase (revenue for Google) something if they don't know if it's available? Remember, many people ONLY know the Google.com page, period.
Sure, Google could simply run an ad/promo and say "Try Google Video" or "Have You Watched a Video Today" but actually providing examples of what's available (including a very popular show) likely make the links much more "clickworthy." If this type of thing continues and you really don't like it (and are wedded to the Google.com interface) I guess you could ask a service like CustomizeGoogle to create an easy method to remove the text. Right now, users of this popular Mozilla add-on can remove paid listings (and do lots of other stuff) from almost all of Google's services with just one-click. Of course, many other ad removal tools also exist.
Posted by Gary Price at 7:25 PM | Permalink
Page CES Keynote With Williams Segment Now On Google VideoA Google spokesperson told us that there were copyright issues with including the "Robin Williams portion" of Larry Page's keynote at CES last week in the "official keynote video" that was released yesterday. However, that didn't mean that an audience member wasn't recording "Robin Williams at Larry Page's CES Keynote *Uncensored*." Now, guess where you can view the video? You got it, Google Video! It's available (at least at the present time) here. The quality isn't great but hey, we're able to see and hear what people who were just a few feet away in an "overflow" room couldn't. Thanks to Philipp and a post in the GB Forum for the news tip.
Posted by Gary Price at 12:09 PM | Permalink
January 9, 2006
Google Video Store Now OpenAbout 72 hours or so after it was first announced the Google Video Store is now live on the Google Video site. To accomodate the launch, the Google Video home page has also been tweaked.
It's now divided up into three categories. + Google Video Store Also browsable at: http://video.google.com/videostore + Popular Video + Random Picks
Material from the Google Video Store can also be browsed by genre or show name. At the moment, three main categories are listed: + NBA Basketball Games + Movies + Music Videos
as well as the titles to purchase and download episodes of the following programs:
+ Brady Bunch + Charlie Rose Talk about from one extreme to the other. (-: + CSI + Ed Sullivan Show + Have Gun Will Travel + I Love Lucy + MacGyver + NCIS + Star Trek Deep Space Nine + Star Trek Voyager + Survivor Guatemala + Twilight Zone You can also browse these CBS programs here.
A quick look at some of the CBS programs available shows that 15 episodes of I Love Lucy are currently available to purchase for $1.99. Three episodes of Star Trek Voyager ($1.99) and 5 episodes of The Twilight Zone (1.99).
Btw, you can view a 30 second clip (no Google Video Player required) before making a decision if you want to purchase or rent the material. After you make your first purchase, you'll be prompted to download the video player (if required) if it's not already on your system. Remember, material that's not copy-protected can be viewed on any media player that can handle .avi files. They can also be downloaded to your iPod or PSP.
A new section Google Video FAQ offer info and assistance in downloading material and explanations of a buying a "Day Pass" for a video (24 hour viewing period) and purchasing a video. You can also read about how to tell if if a video is copy-protected?
Also, a simple Google Video search results pages now allows you to not only view your results in a grid or list, but also quickly limit your results to free video or video for sale by just clicking. You can also click to sort by the length of the material (Long - Medium - Short). Results can be also be sorted by relevance, date uploaded, and title.
As Danny pointed out the other day, at the moment Google Video content for purchase or rental is only available to those with credit cards with a US address. The Google Video Player is only available for Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines. Mac and Linux versions are in the works. After downloading the Google Video Player I was prompted with a box (here's a screen cap) that was pre-checked or pre-ticked to change the default search provider on IE to Google. Is this something new that Google is doing when downloading software?
Finally, to learn more about the new store, take a look at Marketwatch.com video interview or read a pseudo transcript of an interview with Jennifer Feikin, the director of Google Video that I posted earlier today.
Want to discuss? Check out the thread: Google Opens Video Store, in the SEW Forums.
Postscript 1: A bit confused. In our chat with Google's Peter Chane last week, we were told that Charlie Rose interviews would not be copy-protected and could be viewed on a myriad of devices. I just purchased and downloaded a Charlie Rose interview and was told that it DOES require the Google Video Player. Here's a screen cap of the page that appeared after I paid to download the program. Google's Jennifer Feikin also uses Charlie Rose as an example of material that would not be copy-protected in the interview she gave to Marketwatch.com.
Update: Well, I went and downloaded the file again and now get several download options (screen cap). In fact, the show can be downloaded to an iPod or PSP as an MP4 format file. Even more confusing is the Windows/Mac option that downloads the file in the Google .gvp format and requires the Google Video Player. Why is this confusing? Because there is no Google Video Player for the Mac as of today. In fact, Google's documentation makes that point very clear.
Let me end this update by saying that I've now downloaded the video after paying $.99, installed the player, and still can't watch the video. Why? It seems that at the moment (2 am EST) I'm unable get my Google account to authenticate so I'm unable to view the show. I keep receiving an error message. I'm told to go to video.google.com/support but I can't find anything about authentication problems. Yes, I know, Google Video is a beta. (-:
Postscript 2: It looks as if the Google Video Player problem/authorization issue was on my end, some sort of compatibilty issue with my system. I dowloaded the player and video on another computer and watched my video. If you're having issues, try doing the same thing (assuming you have more than one computer).
Postscript 3: If you like to read the small print, you'll notice on the Terms of Service page that payments for Google Video are being handled by the Google Payment Corporation, a company Google set-up last year. The privacy page was unavailable when I checked the link a few minutes ago. Postscript 4: If you're a Rocky and Bullwinkle fan (I am) you'll be happy to learn that the video store is home to 8 downloadable episodes.
Postscript 5: To get the Google Video Player, you need to search for any file, then click download, then a window should prompt to install it. No luck? Here's a direct link to the file.
Postscript 6 Just off the phone with Google. Some answers to my questions. 1) Look for the privacy link to work soon. 2) Why the Windows/Mac option? This appears because the Charlie Rose program is not copy-protected. A Mac user would be able to downoad an .AVI file that would play on their machine. The .avi file topic is discussed (it could be a bit more clear) on a video search help page. Google said they would try to make this more understandable on both the video download page and on the help page. 3) As of now, the first time you download from Google Video it will download a video player to your computer. That's why I was told I needed the player. Google said they are looking into how this is worded and might make a tweak or two.
Posted by Gary Price at 10:31 PM | Permalink
Jennifer Feikin, Director of Google Video, Interviewed on Marketwatch.comMarketwatch.com has just posted a brief interview (video) with Jennifer Feikin, director of Google Video, about the Google Video Store.
Selected comments from Feikin to questions from Bambi Francisco:
On Apple iTunes comparisons, competion It's actually quite a different model. It's the first open video marketplace where content owners of any sort can have their content owners store and can decide how they want to sell it,for what price, and also gives users a very wide variety of content...
On pricing and purchase models We really wanted this to be an open marketplace. So, different content owners are going to decide on different prices and they're also going to figure out different models of different genres of content. What we really felt is that we're in the first minute of a 24 hour day of video content online and content owners should be able to experiment with different prices, different type of business models for different genres of content...
On the payment system for the Google Video Store So, the payment system is just a feature of Google Video so that people can have a very easy way of paying for content...Once they see a 30 second preview of the content on Google Video they are prompted to purchase the content and at that point it's downloaded to their Google Video Player and they're charged for it.
On Revenue Sharing and Copyright Protection The content producers get the large majority of the revenue share, it's a very generous revenue share and copyright protection is optional. We've created a technology for copyright protection that content owners can have on or off.
On downloading to mobile devices You actually can download non-copyright protected content to the PSP and the iPod and that's the choice of the content owner.
On Google deciding to create their own DRM (digital rights management) software, why not use what's already out there? We wanted it to be very simple and very easy and so we wanted it to be a very good user experience and at the same time we wanted to create something that would be secure enough for the content owners we were working with. So this particular copyright protection has done both of those things.
On Feikin's vision for Google Video a year from know, two years from know. I think the real vision is getting content out to the users. What they want, when they want, how they want it and the first step was really figuring out how to get the greatest catalog of content which is Google's core mission, right, to organize the world's information. So, it's really about a huge breadth of content and so in order to get the most breadth of content we needed to create a payment system so that the could actually charge for content and integrate that feature into Google Video. So, that's sort of the step where we're at today. The next steps will be to get more content and continue figure out how to get the service out to the end user wherever they may be. Whether it's on their portable device, heater they're at home but it's really going to be a marriage of increasing the content on Google Video as well as getting it out to different areas where users want to use it.
Posted by Gary Price at 12:59 PM | Permalink
January 8, 2006
Google Video Player Removed From Downloads of Google Video PackSeveral people have sent along notes this weekend and I've seen a few blog postings mentioning that the new Google Video Player has been removed from downloads of the new Google Pack that went live on Friday evening.
Digital Inspiration has a screen cap of the Google Pack download page at launch where you can see the video player listed. A look at the live page as of this afternoon, shows it awol.
Presently, the Google Video Store is still not open. I wouldn't doubt that's why the player has been removed from the pack? Of course, one would ask why they included it in the pack in the first place if they knew the store wasn't opening yet? At least with all of attention (and downloads the pack must be getting) placing the Google Video Player onto a system now would save the user time once the store opens. I wonder if the Google Updater (also part of the "pack" will notify users if/when the player becomes available again? Whatever the case, it would have been nice if Google would have posted a note about the change on the Google Blog, the Google Video Blog, the Google Video Group or in the Google Pack help section. There is no Google Pack discussion group. When will the Google Video Store open? Danny used the word "soonish" in his post on Friday.
If you're looking for other services (in addition to iTunes to download and view new/classic movies and tv shows) check out this post where I have links to several other services. Btw, I've been watching movies all weekend with Vongo. Very impressive and the price ($9.99 for unlimited access) is right.
Postscript From Danny: Vongo is less impressive if you are outside the United States. In that case, it just gives you a message saying that it's not available to those outside the US. Pretty sucky, Vongo gang. That means I cannot even see anything in general about your site if I wanted to, hmm, maybe write about it.
Postscript from Gary: Danny is right. It would be nice if, at the least, Vongo and other "U.S. only services" like MovieLink, would offer some info about their service to those visiting their sites from outside the U.S. PaidContent's Staci Kramer, who also has a great post about Vongo, told me that Starz, the owner of Vongo, does not have distribution rights outside the U.S. "If they couldn't promise geo-coding, the service wouldn't be live," she told me. Staci also pointed out this post that includes a reply from Vongo about the organizatioin of the way the site is organized soon so those outside the U.S. can at least learn about the service.
Btw, Netimperative reports that LOVEFiLM, a popular mail-based DVD rental service in the UK, is going to offer a movie download service for UK subscribers. At launch, the movie download service will include some 500 movies from major studios and independents, including Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Alexander and Batman, with more titles added over time. All titles will cost from 2.99 per download. The service works with Microsoft Windows Media Player version 10, which provides a digital rights management system, security and anti-piracy control.
Posted by Gary Price at 4:42 PM | Permalink
January 6, 2006
Google Video Store Opens (Soonish)As expected, Google has announced plans for a new Google Video Store allowing video purchase and rental from Google Video. Content from about 40 providers will be initially available for purchase, with the program opening to any video producer wishing to charge in the near future. Viewers can watch video using a new Google video player or download content formatted for the iPod Video and the Sony PSP. Google is also using its own version of copy protection for some programs.
"It will be an open video marketplace where consumers can buy or rent content," said Peter Chane, senior business product manager for Google Video, when explaining the new service to Search Engine Watch earlier this week. "We're adding the monetization component to video, and when we do that, we think an enormous amount of video will come online."
Google Video originally started out in June distributing its own Google Viewer, then shifted to playback to using Flash in September. Now as suspected, a downloadable Google Video Player is back. Google's bringing this out so that copy protected content can be played.
Not all content will have copy protection. It remains up to the provider to decide if they want to do this. For those that do, their content can only be viewed using the Google player.
The player is a 5MB download and works for Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines only, though Mac and Linux versions are planned. One feature of the interface is a filmstrip-style mode, where you can browse all the frames of the video as a way to jump to something of interest.
Copy protection works by the video being opened in the player and then authenticated online. Once authenticated, it can continue to be played as long as the viewer remains open.
Airplane travelers are out of luck, at the moment. Authentication can't be saved. That means if you aren't connected, you won't be able to watch the video, assuming copy protection is involved. Chane said Google hopes to come up with an offline viewing option for copy protected video in the future.
Some of the paid content won't involve copy protection, such as interviews from the Charlie Rose show. The entire archive of his shows is going to be sold at $0.99 each. They've chosen to forgo copy protection.
I asked Chane if Rose was the exception, but he said not. A surprising number of those selling content will not use copy protection, though Chane didn't give a specific breakdown, only saying it's a "mix."
Non-copy protected content can be played in the Google viewer, plus there will be links to download versions for the Apple iPod Video and the Sony PlayStation Portable. Windows Mobile users are out of luck, however. No content formatted for them will be offered. I suspect using third party tools like Nero, it will be pretty easy to transcode them, however.
I'm actually in the middle of a project to find the best way to set up video so I can play it on my iPod, PSP, Windows Mobile PDA and my Windows Mobile Smartphone. If I rip a cartoon for the kids, I want to do it once and make it work across all my devices. Keep an eye on my personal blog, and I'll share any tips along those lines in the near future.
Google might add Windows Mobile / Pocket PC formats in the future, saying it went with the iPod and PSP because it considers them the most popular gadgets for viewing video outside of a PC. Google's also looking at how they can use copy protection native to both devices, so that copy protected content can be sent to them.
Will a Google version of iTunes be coming along, in order to help users manage getting this content onto their devices? There aren't any immediate plans, Chane said.
iPod content downloads in a format to automatically let it be added to that device through iTunes. PSP content should be downloading using the peculiar naming format that the PSP requires, then Google expect PSP enthusiasts to use Sony's own tool or a third party tool for moving their content over (try PSP 9, though no programs are actually needed if you know where to drag-and-drop the files).
While Google Video is currently a keyword search tool, it is to gain an enhanced browsable interface. That's good, because with paid content, many people will know they want to drill down directly to a particular program. CBS and the National Basketball Association are two of the 40 or so initial content providers that will be offering thousands of titles. TV shows like CSI and Star Trek:Voyager are among the offerings from CBS.
Google has long said it will let anyone upload video for sale. That's "soon" to be enabled, Chane said. Content can be purchased outright or "rented" so that will can be viewed up to 24 hours after purchase. Longer periods may be added in the future, Chane said.
At launch, only those with credit cards using a US address can buy video. Google does plan to add support for those with non-US addresses in the future. Payments will be handle through the Google Accounts system, which will gain a feature to let credit card info be added. The long expected Google Wallet? No, Chane said the system wasn't going by that name.
Google's already grappled with copyrighted content being uploaded to Google Video since it launched. Gary Price, on the call with me, wondered what prevented people from uploading and selling such content. Chane said Google is continue to enhance its monitoring and those who were caught selling copyrighted video without permission would be dealt with.
Google's not alone in the online video sales space. For some alternatives and the competition, see Gary's Google Faces Plenty Of Competition In Online Video Rental & Sales Marketplace article.
Looking for the official word? See the Google press release here
Want to comment or discuss? Visit the Google area of our Search Engine Watch Forums.
Postscript: The Google Video Store was originally supposed to be live to coincide with the announcement. Google's since said that it will go up as soon as possible, with no other timeframe guidance beyond that. Watch the Google Video site, and when it's live, you'll see it there.
Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:00 PM | Permalink
Google Faces Plenty Of Competition In Online Video Rental & Sales MarketplaceAlthough Google Video has been grabbing the headlines the expected release of a Google Video download/rental service, many other services have been around for a couple of years while others have just come online. These services allow customers to record, search, browse, download and/or purchase video content online.
We're not talking about stores selling you a DVD (like Amazon) but suppliers of streamable content for online and offline viewing. In other words, find your content and watch it immediately online or save it (in some cases) for offline viewing on your desktop, laptop, or in some cases, portable device.
What follows is a selection of a few of these services and tools. By NO means, is this a comprehensive list. It focuses on services available in the United States.
Vongo
Vongo is a brand new service launched this week by the Starz Entertainment Group. Unlimited access to over one thousand movies, many just out of theaters and many exclusives to Starz/Vongo. Download and playback on Windows-based PCs, laptops, and select portable media devices, as well as on a TV. When movies are no longer available, they time out and are removed from the hard drive. New content added each week. More info about Vongo and access to the client here. The cost is $9.99/month. The price also includes live streaming of the Starz movie channel. Additionally, some titles are available on a pay-per-view basis for $3.95.
Current titles include: + The Incredibles + Hitch + National Treasure
Starz also has a deal with Real Networks (Starz Ticket) that offers a rotating library (about 40 titles/week) of movies for downloading and offline viewing at $12.95/month. Unless you have a 300Kbps or higher bandwidth connection you cannot access the Starz Ticket service.
TiVo
The digital video recording service announced in November that content recorded on your TiVo can be transferred to your iPod or Playstation Portable. In other words, you take your TV picks selections with you which is quite appealing. This new service is expect