Two months ago I wrote a post observing that Google Video doesn't search for content across the web, preferring instead to list its own content only. I speculated that this had to do with their aim to host as much content as possible.
I later wrote another post arguing that YouTube's value comes, partly, from two somewhat conflicting strengths:
- Its brand, with its association with a particular kind of content (quirky, amateurish, etc)
- The sheer amount of content it hosts, which makes its search engine a good starting point when looking for anything you want (Andrew Barron also makes this point in his excellent blog)
Now that Google bought YouTube, a question that springs to mind is: what would have happened if Google had offered this functionality before it bought YouTube? Two things: (i) it would have undermined YouTube's second strength above, at the cost of also (ii) inflicting similar damage on its own video-hosting service.
Since then I noticed that Yahoo Video, like AltaVista, does what Google doesn't (i.e. it searches for video across the web; for a good overview of video web search see this Forrester report). And this in turn begs the question: what would happen if all the other web search services (AOL, MSN, etc) were to follow Yahoo's lead? The answer, I suspect, is that little would change - because Google owns the practice of Googling for stuff.
For now.
If studios, networks, independent producers and consumers resist Youtube's siren song and choose to build their own hosting properties (with features similar to Youtube's like embeddable video, permalinks, etc) or go somewhere else to publish their video, Youtube and Google's second strength (above) will be undermined. The race would then be on between Yahoo, AOL and MSN to become the premier web-search engine for video - unless Google moves first. In either case Youtube's value would be undermined.
If correct, this analysis would explain Google's current desperation to secure deals with media owners, for reasons beyond copyright infringement.
:Update 09/12: John Batelle asks: "Are the deals exclusive to YouTube/Google, so that no other online outlets can have the content?"
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