Thursday, January 25, 2007
Since Google announced its acquisition of YouTube last October, there have been questions about the fate of its own site, Google Video, and how it would either complement or conflict with its much sexier rival-turned-ally. Today, the company gave its first indication of what it has planned going forward. The company realizes it doesn't make much sense to continue to bifurcate its video offerings, and because YouTube is currently the runaway leader in the space, all of the company's videos will basically be hosted and distributed through that site. But it's not going to mothball Google Video. Instead, the site will basically become a video search engine that will help users find videos all over the internet. This seems like an elegant solution. Video search is a natural offering for the company, and it's smart of the company to realize there's more to online video than just what's hosted at YouTube. Some companies, after shelling out $1.6 billion and change for an acquisition might be tempted to milk it for all its worth, and corral users onto just that site, but the company has always recognized there's a lot of money to be made in getting people off its site.
