Digital News Report – Google has announced the end of their Google Video website. On April 29, 2011 videos that were uploaded to Google Video will no longer be made available to be played back. So if you have been meaning to watch a couple of videos there you better get watching. Also if you have uploaded any videos that you want to save, you will need to download them before Google pulls the plug on the website at the end of May 13, 2011.
Why did Google pull the plug on Google Video? They probably did this because of the redundancy of their video websites. They have gained so much with YouTube, that they do not need two video sharing websites. The Google Video forum has been archived and there are no new posting going on there.
The Google Video files are downloaded in .FLV (Flash Video) format which can be re-uploaded to Youtube or Picassa Web Albums. One benefit Google Video had over YouTube was that they allowed for longer duration videos. Now, YouTube has been giving users longer clip lengths that they can upload. There are also several video sharing websites that will take longer clips such as Viddler, Vimeo, or Shutterfly just to name a few.
By Victoria Brown