Written By Kate Zimmermann | October 19, 2006 | Share This |

On Monday, Pure Digital (a popular digital camcorder company) announced partnership agreements with Google Video and Grouper. The deals are related to a new camcorder that will allow users to directly upload video content to the Internet. Though the external hardware is similar to older models, the new camera comes with a USB port that makes it easier for users to put their home movies online. The new “2.0″ camcorder will be available in stores just in time for the holidays.

Interestingly, the camera will work with Google Video but not with YouTube. The separation of the two video aggregators recognizes a difference in their respective services, and further confirms that the two will NOT be merged. While YouTube and Google have both issued statements that YouTube will continue to exist as a separate service (obviously the right choice, considering YT’s brand-loyal audience), there’s been little discussion as to the fate of Google Video.

Which brings me back to Pure Digital. The Google Video/Grouper deals signify a tipping point for user-generated video. As user-friendly devices like USB camcorders hit the markets this winter, digital video sharing will become accessible to audiences beyond tech-geeks and teenagers. Naturally, online video storage and non-public sharing services will be in high demand (like Webshots and Photobucket to digital photography) and will cater to a different audience than that of YouTube. YouTube, like Flickr, has a distict element of publicity that defines its user base (call it “2.0″, whatever, it’s the idea that everyone is the star of their own reality TV show), that Google Video does not identify with. With the Pure Digital deal, Google Video is poised to become the Picasa of video storage, where users can organize, edit and privately share their home movies.

At the moment, Google Video is largely focused on celebrity content and other copyrighted material. In other words, anything that’s not a blatent promotional campaign is protected as “premium” content (aka: a paid download). As media companies make more of their content available for free on their own sites (or through networks like NBBC), Google Video’s for-pay download service is going to lose its incentive. Not to mention the competition from iTunes. Until Google Video identifies what makes its content different (if not more valuable) from that of iTunes, YouTube, media sites, NBBC, and even Grouper, it will remain in the shadow of its more popular competitors.

But, because of it’s low standing among video aggregation sites, Google Video has the opportunity to morph into a more utilitarian site that would feed a growing demand for video storage space. Indeed, the introduction of Google Video’s “Unlisted Video” service supports its potential as a storage site rather than a “video marketplace.” Introduced on October 10th, Unlisted Video lets users upload videos without making them publically available in Google search results. Too bad it sounds like a porn index, because Unlisted Video is the first hint at a coming set of user-friendly video creation tools. Now with the Pure Digital deal, it seems like Google Video Editor is only a matter of time.

Topics: Google, Search: Video, Technology |