Google Video, currently in beta, is the video distribution or internet television service being promoted by the world’s largest search engine Google. Like their major competitors in the internet video world YouTube, and Yahoo Video they offer anyone with an Internet connection the ability to upload video clips and share them with friends, family, and the world, all for free. Users are invited to leave comments and save videos directly to their own computers for playback in Google’s own video player.

For Content Producers

You can upload free or commercial videos and set prices and previews for commercially available videos. Google offers easy to use software for uploading your video and everything is available using your free Google account. You can make money by selling your content and can upload a huge amount of videos at the same time.

Pros

With Google providing the back end, it’s very fast, reliable, isn’t going anywhere, and will probably stay free forever. Users can download your video to their computers and via private reports you can monitor how many views and download your videos are receiving without that information being made public. The Google video upload tool is very effective for quicker video uploading. You can login using your existing google account and use regular urls in the description that automatically become links to wherever you want.

Cons

No ability for people to subscribe to your videos, so you can’t get regular content subscribers in the way you can with other video sites, like YouTube or Yahoo video. There are no user profile pages, just an option to view more videos from a particular user, There isn’t the same community you can experience on other video sites, with messages, profiles, etc.

100 Megabyte video upload limit, and longer delays for video to be verified then on competing sites. It can take up to a week before your video goes live. Google Video only has a top 100 list and a movers and shakers list, and categories. There are substantially less ways to sort vides then on competing sites, so there are less lists you can get your video on to get more visitors.

For Content Consumers

Pros

Very fast, with Google as a backend, the search function actually brings up relevant videos, so if you type in old videos of WWII that’s actually what you get back. Doesn’t go down, allows you download the video in different formats and you can put the movies on your video IPOD or PSP. You can get a few different converters and burn downloaded Google videos to regular DVDS.

Google also has a lot of relationships with major television stations and content producers, so it contains a large amount of useful full length movies, and a free content area that is backed by sponsors that has content comparable to regular or from regular broadcasting. (documentaries, films, stock footage).

Cons

No subscriptions, favorites, or other community features. You can’t view a user’s profile to learn more about who is posting the video or video. Very few ways to sort content besides searching for keywords or viewing the top 100.

Community

It has comments and ratings, but with no profile pages, no groups, and no subscriptions the community is rather lacking on Google Video. Video comments are usually one or two sentences and similar to what you would find on competing sites.

Summary

Google video is a robust and ever changing video distribution site, backed by the most popular website in the world with the latest and greatest technology. It still has a lot of problems, but already contains a lot of high quality content and is a must for anyone who just wants to watch videos online. It’s not very good for networking and if you’re looking for more of a community to share videos with you’ll need to check out one of its competitors like YouTube.

Future of Google video

It’s still in beta, so it’s not certain, but you’ll be sure it’s not going anywhere and will have almost certainly end up with some sort of strong revenue model, maybe integration with Google Adwords in addition to paid content etc.

We are currently only in the beginning of the internet television revolution and new sites offering the ability for anyone to upload video clips and share them with the world are popping up left and right. If you’re a content producer and looking to get thelargest number of people to see your work, you’ll have to submit it to each site individually.

With Internet television in it’s infancy there is no large audience overlap, some people like youtube, while others prefer yahoo or google video and others are involved with vidilife or daily motion. Plan on submitting your clips individually to each of the sites listed below. Although each video distribution site offers basically the same functionality of clip sharing, they contain distinct differences in everything from audience demographic and social networking features to traffic levels and commercial options.

I’ve expanded upon each one’s unique features and major shortcomings below. They are listed in order of estimated popularity taken from Alexa Traffic Rankings on July 29, 2006

Major Shortcomings

10 minutes video length limit on regular accounts and no ability for users to download videos.

Major Shortcomings

No user’s profile page, no ability to subscribe to a certain user’s video, limited video sorting options (only top 100 and movers and shakers, and by subject). Video thumbnails taken at random from beginning of video clip.

Major Shortcomings

Can’t save videos to your local computer.

Major Shortcomings

7 min length maximum for video clips. User’s can’t save clips to their local computer.

Major Shortcomings

Extremely small video descriptions of only 255 characters. Lots of commercials and ads on website and tons of junk content. Limited profile pages, no subscription options or ability to download individual clips.

Major Shortcomings
Users can’t save videos to their local computer.

Major Shortcomings

There are a lot of videos on the site compared to their traffic levels, so even the most viewed videos for the week receive relatively few views compared to their competitors.

Major Shortcomings

Slow flash interface that makes searching through large amounts of videos take longer. Low traffic levels compared to the huge amount of videos.

Major Shortcomings

Traffic levels lag behind competitors.

Major shortcomings

Relatively few ways to sort videos, no profile pages or ability to subscribe to a particular user’s video. Low traffic.

There’s something a little sneaky about video marketing. This method that currently has so much impact in the online world has the ability to come off more like entertainment than a form of advertising, but it works! How many marketing methods are truly able to pull this off? As the ultimate tool to connect with customers in a unique and creative way, video marketing has proven to be a powerhouse when it comes to increasing traffic and the all important return-on-investment.
Perhaps you have never considered video marketing for yourself or have just thought the method was out of your league; now may be the right time to try your hand at something that is producing massive results for IMers-both the veterans and the newbies.
The popularity of video is evident in YouTube video traffic numbers alone. More than 1,000,000 videos are viewed on YouTube each and every day. The amount of time people spend watching these videos is significant, and it you may be easier than you think to get your videos viewed by your target market.
In addition to the sheer traffic videos attract, another benefit to video marketing is its cost effectiveness and ease-of-use once you get the hang of it. You also have the freedom to make the kind of video you want to make. You can go all out and do something very wild and crazy and creative to get the attention of viewers, or you can produce videos that are information-packed and provide an educational service to your customers. The choice is yours, but ultimately the purpose of video marketing is the same as the purpose of blogs, articles and advertisements: TRAFFIC.
With your videos, you are essentially establishing a connection with potential customers, giving them a taste of who you are and what your business is all about. Many marketers believe it’s much easier to create such a connection through video rather than through the written word or even a flashy advertisement. The reason? Today’s customers are very visual, and they like to be entertained, which is why videos fit the bill quite nicely.
Where do you begin with video marketing?
If you are trying to get your video marketing efforts off the ground, you may find it helpful to go with a system to help you step-by-step. Traffic Geyser is one program that guides you through the process involved in the creation, distribution and promotion of your videos. It can be of great benefit to have all you need for your video marketing efforts through one easy-to-use site and system.
However, if such a program isn’t in your budget, it is also possible to find what you need online quite often for free. From video marketing tips and strategies to free tools to help you create and distribute your videos, some solid research will help you to come up with what you need to use video marketing effectively.
While for some marketers the video creation process is most challenging, for others it is coming up with ideas and a purpose for the actual video that provides a stumbling block. If you are stumped for ideas when it comes to your videos, consider some of these:
- Pump up your customer list by offering free informational videos in exchange for their contact info.
- Use videos to provide buzz and excitement for a specific product launch.
- Produce videos that can add value to your site with an educational video series or another way to provide a service to your site visitors.
- Help your visitors get to know who you are through introducing yourself in a video.
- Pitch your product or service with a creative video or two.
Even if video marketing is foreign territory, don’t let the unknown intimidate you. The sky’s the limit when it comes to increasing your traffic potential and sales using video. Even a newbie to the IM world can develop a video of worth to potential customers. Now is the time to get involved in this video marketing wave. If you don’t, someone else will, and they may just take your customers.