Google Video will be launching a video player that integrates itself into either the Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers, allowing users to view Google’s streaming video in response to their video search queries.
The service’s videos now play within a Web browser without the need for additional software, says Peter Shane, senior business product manager for Google Video.
Evidently, the player will be open source and is based on the VLC media player. The player will also be made available to those who like to program using open source utilities through Google’s code project.
Once a search is conducted, any results that are designated as being free will be streamed to the user via the VLC player. There are indications that in order to access paid content, users will have to pay, via the Google Wallet, in order to view these videos.
Because Google Video allows paid content to be submitted and users to be charged for its playback, it certainly does appear as if this service has been tailored to fit with the upcoming Google Wallet, which has been surrounded by speculation since it was first mentioned. By integrating the two Google services, users will be able to exploit Google Video has a one-stop service that allows access to paid and unpaid content alike.
Making Improvements
Google launched Google Video in January of this year, and the service was deemed underwhelming by many, in part because it did not feature any actual videos to play back. What it did feature were transcript excerpts from TV, along with still photos from the video broadcasts, as well other complementary information about the programs. The indexed information also was limited to only certain television shows.
Google Video’s lack of viewable content made it pale in comparison with existing multimedia search engines from competitors America Online, Blinkx, and Yahoo. However, Google has been improving its video service. Along the way, the company has opened the service to allow anyone, from individual amateurs to television and movie producers, to submit video for inclusion in Google Video. It has also made actual video viewable on the service.
Other enhancements to the service include a larger and resizable viewing window, and more playback controls, such as pause, skip back, skip forward, and volume. Also new is the availability of 10-second video previews that can be played on the search results page. Google also announced that visitors to Google Video will be able to view the series premiere of the UPN television network’s show Everybody Hates Chris.
During those four days, Google Video will be the only place on the Web where the episode will be available in its entirety, Shane says. We are working with all sorts of owners of video content to help them bring their content online, he says. You will see more high-quality video content on Google Video in months to come.
A question remains, however: will the introduction of the VLC-Google player increase the amount of content Google will offer potential users. Will Google and their video partners allow users to access anything other than closed caption transcripts? Can Google also integrate the Google Wallet to charge for premiere content coming from their partners?
If so, it would certainly appear as if Google has found another legitimate source of revenue and income, instead of relying primarily on their incredibly lucrative advertising services.