Mountain View, California — If you have ever uploaded any videos at Google’s Google Video service, better head over and make sure you have securely saved them. As the global search engine leader in an unsurprising move has opted to wind things down with Google Video, considering it now owns YouTube, which according to comScore’s January figures, is the number one online video content property with 144.1 million unique viewers per month.
Google, over the weekend disclosed its first-quarter 2011 financial report, and while it shows that the company’s profits has overall increased by 17, though its earnings per share fell short of expectations and its stock prices slid as a result. Now the Google bosses are almost certainly searching for ways to cut costs now, a fact which is now apparent in the company’s move to axe two now-redundant services: Google Video and Google Tags.
The Google Video move in particular has been a long time coming. Google introduced Google Video in 2005, and then purchased YouTube the following year. The search engine giant last weekend mailed out notice to users that it was shutting down the hosting service, which had already stopped taking uploads a couple of years ago.
According to techno news-site CenterNetworks, which has confirmed that the content portal’s end will commence in the coming weeks, with a total shutdown to begin before the start of summer. Starting on April 29, videos hosted on the site will no longer be viewable. You will still be able to download whatever you happen to have posted however, though that feature will be cut off on May 13.
Anyway, so what will happen to videos hosted on the site? Fortunately, Google is asking that folks transfer their material to YouTube, its uber popular video site. The move is not surprising, given YouTube’s position in the market.
Here is the email that went out:
Dear Google Video User,
Later this month, hosted video content on Google Video will no longer be available for playback,” read an email sent to Google Video users. “Google Video stopped taking uploads since May 2009 and now we are removing the remaining hosted content. We have always asserted that the strength of Google Video is its ability to let people search videos from across the Web, regardless of where those videos are hosted. And this move will enable us to focus on developing these technologies further to the benefit of searchers worldwide.”
On April 29, 2011, videos that have been uploaded to Google Video will no longer be available for playback. Google has now included a Download button to the video status page, so you can download any video content you want to save. If you do not want to download your content, you do not need to do anything. (The Download feature will be automatically disabled after May 13, 2011.)
We recommend that you move your content to YouTube if you have not done so already. YouTube offers many video hosting options including the ability to share your videos privately or in an unlisted manner. The search engine giant might be placing renewed emphasis on YouTube. According to a recent report, the company is planning to invest as much as $100 million to produce original content for the site.
In addition here is how to download your videos:
Go to the Video Status page. To download a video to your computer, click the Download Video link located on the right side of each of your videos in the Actions column.
Once a video has been downloaded, “Already Downloaded” will appear next to the Download Video link.
If you have multiple videos on Google Video, you may need to use the paging controls located on the bottom right of the page to access them all.
Please note: This download option will be available through May 13, 2011.
Thank you for being a Google Video user.
Sincerely,
The Google Video Team
Video was a fierce YouTube competitor in the early Aughts, but ultimately Google acquired the company in 2005. Understandably, Video users are advised in the e-mail referenced above to re-post their videos on YouTube.
In related news, TechCrunch reports that Google is also killing off its Tags service, which allows local business to enhance their listings on Google Places and Google Maps for a flat monthly rate. Moreover, Tags, which is now being scooped by the Google’s Boost service, which manifests on the Internet as blue-colored pushpins in Maps and paid search results, pulling content from the business in question’s Google Places listing.