Google Video Hops on YouTube’s Tail

Google Video isn’t faring well in the booming online video market. Good thing the company bought YouTube.

Starting today, Google will tighten integration with YouTube. This means that YouTube video results will appear in the Google Video search index. When users click on YouTube thumbnails, their browsers will be redirected to YouTube.com.

Despite the tighter integration, Google said in a statement that
YouTube will remain an independent subsidiary of Google, which will continue to support
YouTube by providing access to search and monetization platforms.

Google will also help YouTube launch internationally, the company said.

Google bought in YouTube a site with user stats that marketers drool over, and a
phenomenon at the epicenter of the video on the Web explosion. With this announcement, Google is trying to add some of YouTube’s secret sauce to spice up its own video platform.

It needs it.

Among the top five online video sites tracked by market metrics
research firm Hitwise, Google Video finished a distant third in terms
of market share of visits during the week ending Jan. 20.

YouTube’s 49.07 percent and MySpace’s 20.36 percent easily outdid the 10.24 percent Google mustered. According to Nielsen//NetRatings,
YouTube beat Google Video’s unique audience in December 2006 by
nearly 18 million.

Given that disparity, it’s perhaps no surprise that Google also said
today that it ultimately envision most user-generated and premium
video content being hosted on YouTube rather than Google Video.