imran*

Google yesterday added video playback to its Video Search beta (earlier covered by Mark here) using the VLC-based Google Video Viewer.

Video Search results now include a blue Play icon next to results with playable video content. Though such content is currently rare, ironically, searching on my first name will yield a playable clip!

Clicking on a playable result opens a series of thumbnails enabling the user to watch an entire video clip or start playback from highlights at at 30-second intervals. Clips playback embedded within the page, but can be played full-screen also.

The user experience is pretty good and coupled with indexing of dialogue by Google could eventually make TV content as inherently index-able and search-able as web content. Mark’s earlier experiment in indexing closed-caption data and making clips playable available though searches of dialog fundamentally achieves the same thing…albeit with more interesting content (Troy, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi!)

Curiously, the preferences dialog implies that video search is currently based on local TV content within a ZIP code defined by the user, placing an artificial geographic boundary on available results…as broadcasters, content owners and users make more content available, this should alter to reflect content categories rather then locational availability.

However, I suspect MSN and Yahoo will be better placed to exploit video search, given Yahoo’s growing status as a media network and Microsoft’s close relationships with content owners through its Windows Media business.

This much is clear, the artificial scarcity of TV distribution models is gradually unfurling as BitTorrent, PVRs, DVD ripping, RSS, Search and broadband create a confluence of technologies that are Napsteriz-ing and disintermediating the TV industry.