Google Video Archive

Last week I was the first to report that Google Video would be removing the ability to watch hosted videos and would delete the videos effective May 13, 2011. I also created a how-to guide to help you download your Google Video hosted videos in the event that the download button wasn’t visible in your account.

Shortly after my post, Francine Hardaway posted on Twitter that she wondered why Google Video didn’t just create a simple Google Video-to-YouTube converter. Many others posted similar comments (some using expletives) both on Twitter and on CN.

Today Google announced they have created an easy way to move your Google Video hosted videos to YouTube.  The Google post notes, “we will be working to automatically migrate your Google Videos to YouTube.” You can also go ahead and migrate your videos to YouTube now. To do so, you need to make sure your YouTube and Google accounts are connected and then it’s as simple as clicking the “Upload videos to YouTube” option.

The best part about the migration tool is that Google is working to make sure your links won’t break and will be forwarded to YouTube. I am not sure if that includes embedded videos or just links to hosted videos.

It’s great to see that Google has listened to user feedback and created a quick transfer option.

(title came from suggestion from Ed Tatton)

Two days ago we wrote about Google Video basically going offline for hosted videos. On April 29, you will no longer be able to watch videos hosted on Google Video and on May 13, you will no longer be able to download the videos you have uploaded to Google Video over the last few years. Thanks to Jason Kincaid and Nimish Sawant for their links.

I like Francine Hardaway’s comment – she wonders why Google didn’t create a simple one-click “transfer this video to YouTube” option. Assuming Google doesn’t create a transfer to YouTube option, here are three ways to download your videos from Google Video. No matter which option you use, if you have a lot of videos on GV, it will take some time to grab all of them. I’ve listed the options in order from easiest to more complicated.

Option #1 – Use Download Button

In my research it seems about 50% of Google Video users have a “Download” button appearing next to their videos. I am not one of those people – no button shows up on my Google Video page. Click the download button and then after you download the video, it will change to “downloaded” to let you know that you have downloaded that video.

Here’s what the download option looks like:

Continue reading “How To: Download Your Uploaded Videos From Google Video” »

One of my colleagues in Switzerland just forwarded an email from Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) which includes a very important update regarding the Google Video service.  Two years ago Google announced that they would discontinue support for uploads to Google Video. At that time Google noted, “Don’t worry, we’re not removing any content hosted on Google Video — this just means you will no longer be able to upload new content to the service.”

It appears that might be changing. The email below (in German) basically includes the following changes:

• As of April 29, 2011, you will no longer be able to view videos hosted on Google Video
• As of May 13, 2011, you will no longer be able to download videos hosted on Google Video
• Google suggests you re-upload your videos to YouTube

Update Friday 9pm: We can now confirm that these changes are worldwide. Early this morning we reported that the changes might be for the German Google Video but the email below (now in English) confirms that the changes are worldwide.
Continue reading “Updated: Google Video To Delete Uploaded Videos on May 13” »

Arlene Lee from Google has announced that at the end of April, AdSense will no longer support "video units". This was a program that Google started to allow publishers to run video channels that would be monetized using Google AdSense ads.

The announcement blog post is worth a read – apparently the video ad units were U.S. only and many publishers believe the reason they failed is because Google didn’t provide any guidance on usage. WebProNews has additional thoughts on the closure. If I remember, we tried the video ad units on HTMLCenter but they never produced any real income so we removed them.

Once the closure is final at the end of April, the ad units will be replaced with YouTube banners and/or YouTube video boxes. Arlene suggests you swap out any video ad units with traditional AdSense units.

On another AdSense topic, I learned this weekend that Google has no actual support for their publishers. I don’t believe I was issued a tax form for last year and attempted to contact Google for help. All you get is a form that takes you round and round and a note that they provide "limited email support" – not sure what "limited" means but at least from what I can tell it means "none". Too bad there isn’t a Matt Cutts for AdSense.

Liz at NewTeeVee has the details on Google's closure of their paid video service. She notes:

Google today emailed customers who had purchased videos from Google Video to let them know that the company will be discontinuing paid rentals and downloads five days from now. Not only will videos no longer be available for rental or download, but previously purchased videos will no longer be playable.

It appears the bonuses range from $2-10, Mike got $5. Why is Google calling this a bonus? Not sure I would have used that language as a bonus is something you get in addition to what you are already receiving not as a replacement.

My question is this: Is this the first step for the Google Video-YouTube merge? Remove the paid videos first, then complete the merge. We know that both services are not currently needed. I look for a merge within the next year unless Google Video moves into the corporate advertising realm.

Just a quick note that the Google Video Channels test we noted a couple of weeks ago is now live on CenterNetworks. I can only use one unit per page so you will need to look at the bottom of the left menu to check it out. I selected the Wall Street Journal video channel for CN. There are about 15 channels, most are music and entertainment related.

Really looks excellent and I am very excited about this opportunity to embrace video channels on CN.