untangling_the_web

DOCID: 4046925
UNCLASSIFIEDJiFO~OpolilelAL liSE ONLY
Online Videos and Video Search
Online video of all types accelerated greatly over the past year. During the first half
of 2006 it became apparent that online video/video search was going to be one of
the year's biggest topics and developments, with new video sharing and video
search sites gearing up and established companies such as Google, MICROSOFT,
and Yahoo jumping on this particular bandwagon. "The market share of Internet
visits to the 10 leading online video sites has increased by 164 percent in the past
three months (week ending May 20, 2006 versus week ending February 25, 2006),"
according to Hitwise, a competitive intelligence cornpany.!"
Furthermore, some in the "old media," e.g., ABC, CBS, BBC, AP, and Fox, saw this
as a wave of the future they wanted to ride and began or expanded their video
offerings via the Internet. To put the video revolution in perspective, "Apple
Computer Inc. sold 12 million video clips at $1.99 each from its popular iTunes
Music Store in just a few months"!" and more than 40 million videos were viewed
per day at the YouTube website.
Because we usually need to be able to find and get our hands on video quickly,
there is a lot of interest in online video and video search. As with any new venture or
technology, there are problems. In the case of Internet video, the main problems at
the moment are:
~ Quality-lots and lots of really awful, silly stuff.
~ Quantity-still only a small number of videos are available compared to
webpages, images, music.
~ Format-there is no standard format in which videos are offered; some sites
require you to download and install their proprietary software while some use
MacroMedia Flash, QuickTime, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, or
something else.
115 "Hitwise Data Shows Overall Visits to Video Search Sites Up 164%," Hitwise News Release, May
24, 2006, (November 28,
2006).
116 Walter Mossberg and Katherine Boehret, "Searching the Web for Video Clips," The Mossberg
Solution, The Wall Street Journal, (November
28,2006).
UNCLASSIFIEDHFOR OFFICIAL l:JS~ QNb¥ 317