Does Google Want to Control Internet Video? - The Connection
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There is a very important connection between these two announcements. The two actions feed off each other in a way that can only be good for the companies’ bottom lines. Brian Osborne did a good job of summing it up for Geek.com:
“Incorporation of YouTube content into the Google and Google Video search index means more visitors to the YouTube web site. More visitors online means more online ad revenue dollars for YouTube. And if there’s one company that knows anything about increasing online ad revenue, it’s Google.”
Remember the numbers I cited earlier stating that Google gets more than twice the traffic of YouTube? Google’s search engine can funnel traffic to YouTube…which it then makes money from, thanks to ads running on YouTube. You don’t have to be paranoid to wonder if Google is going to start privileging videos from YouTube to turn up higher in the results than videos from other sites.
This move could also help Google make its video search engine more comprehensive by encouraging more people and companies to upload videos to YouTube. One Australian news company noted that many publishers don’t upload video to YouTube and similar sites because they can’t monetize the traffic with their own in-video advertising and banner ads. But what happens if you’re uploading video to YouTube and, as the creator, Google – excuse me, YouTube – gives you a choice of ads you can run with the video? And furthermore, what if one of those ads happens to be your own, because you have an AdWords-equivalent account as well?
When companies host videos on their own web sites, they’re often a lot more difficult for Google to index. Remember, search engine spiders really can’t see video because the current technology doesn’t give them any “data” they can grab onto. But if more creators host their video content on YouTube, it will make it easier for Google to determine the topics and popularity of videos. With all that content to work through, some team of Google engineers is bound to come up with an advanced algorithm that will enable the search engine’s spiders to make heads or tails of video content. When that happens, Google will have a huge advantage over the competition, especially with more and more people interested in online video.
Next: A Good Thing or a Bad Thing? >>
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