| 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.
~~
Unlimited TV show
downloads. Find and download your favorite series (even old-time favorites),
get full episodes and seasons, watch and downloads sports events, and get
access to unlimited movies (including new releases), music, mp3s and
more.
~~
Solomon Rothman is a web designer, filmmaker,
and writer. See blog for
latest news and watch
the free movie Boy Who Never Slept written & directed by Solomon |
