Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Video Search Battlefront Set

Now that Google has swallowed YouTube we have an even more dominant video search engine. But Google's ownership of the video search market is far from ordained. Watch out for Blinkx, which will provide ample competition for the search giant, and may wind up being more profitable.

Blinkx has a plethora of content deals with the leading news
publishers and wire services as well as video publishers such as the TV networks. They provide video to AOL and Lycos and just added MSN as a distribution partner.

Today the field looks anything but level, but Blinkx offers the best user interface and superior search technology. The content partnership deals and development of channels of quality programming on Blinkx provides a superior experience for "serious" viewers online. Selling advertising against this kind of content is straightforward, and Blinkx is well down that path.

The formidable hurdle of course is YouTube's millions of contributors and dedicated audience of watchers. But now that Google's deep pockets are ripe for copyright lawsuits, a not insignificant percentage of its content will be taken offline. Google has a ad model in place for publishers, but organizing and compensating the contributors will take
time away from what Google does best.

So today, AOL/MSN/Blinkx video search may not compare with YouTube for volume, but quality may eventually win out. Even if GoogleTube continues to get the most eyeballs, they may never win the battle for the best bottom line.

Posted By John Gartner at 04:36 PM
Permanent Link: Video Search Battlefront Set | Comments (2)

(2) Comments on Video Search Battlefront Set

There are many great video search engines. I do not find Blinkx to be one of them. No one I know uses Blinkx, few have ever heard of them. Using Blinkx leaves no impression of usefulness in order to use it ever again.

Everyone I know uses YouTube, everyone has heard of them, because their platform has something original to offer. Blinkx is all regurgitated, it has nothing original to offer.

Comments by Larry Gallo : Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 12:43 PM

YouTube is not a search engine. It is a hosting site. When you search from within YouTube you search inside the walled garden, big as it may be.

Blinkx appears to have a lot of partners, but the game is really just beginning, and Googgle have staked out a big first mover advantage in terms of what it is really about - ad placement

Comments by Chris Gilbey : Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 03:18 PM

Post a Comment

Name:
Email:
WebSite:
Comment:
Remember Me
Subscribe