MicroBlinkx: The answer to YouTube

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The Hitman
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A response to an article on http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/11/microsoft-s-answer-to-the-youtube-google-deal/
Original article By Chris Tew

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This deal might be just what the doctor ordered. Microsoft didn't buy out Blinkx but they did get the license to use Blinkx's search technology. Microsoft will use that technology on msn and live.com to broaden it's already existing search engine. The search engine is already used on Youtube, BBC news, Sky news, and Fox

Even though this may seem like a good idea, the fact that Youtube is dominating the video search community hasn't changed. If anything it will take quite some time for Microsoft to market this across to all end users. Most likely as a toolbar on future pc platforms as they did with aol. But for now this shouldn't change my own search query.

Blinkx has already offered a similar license to lycos so they can find themselves on top again. Besides lycos, it is reported that aol has the same technology but this isn't confirmed as of yet.

I tend to agree with Chris's view of Blinkx's site in terms of it's user friendliness and ease of navigation. They definetely need some work there. Blinkx is not yet a community and therefore will showcase videos outside the mainstream, but that may just be what sends users to their site over time once they've gotten their fill of Youtube.However, Soapbox, ( Microsoft's Youtube ) could with this technology gain some new fans.

One positive thing to note about it's search engine would be the limited ability of original copyright owners of videos to sue blinkx, whereas youtube and google are extremely vulnerable since they host the video. Although those lawsuits would only be filed if youtube or other violators of copyright don't remove the copyrighted material.

Back to the subject at hand, as long as youtube continues to allow all types of video and keeps expanding it's server space then noone will be able to compete with them for the time being at least.

Conversely, Blinkx.tv is a new site design for users to view tv clips with channels, video walls and a personable customizable playlist. The Video wall is basicly a set of around 25 preview clips. The video wall can then be embedded into personal websites such as myspace. The channel lineup includes espn, fox news, the discovery channel and much more. The user is sent portions of their video clip search or to a link if the content requires a subscription.

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Original article can be viewed on: http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3636801

xSP
October 9, 2006
Microsoft Signs Blinkx to Video Search
By Ed Sutherland

UPDATED: A pact between video search company Blinkx and Microsoft (Quote) brings into sharp focus the growing importance of managing the mountain of online content.

The agreement comes as Internet giant Google (Quote) considers whether to buy popular video site YouTube for a reported $1.6 billion and as portals look to video as the next wave of Internet content.

Blinkx and Microsoft plan to announce Tuesday that Blinx video search technology, already adopted by Lycos and others, will form the backbone for users searching for video on portions of MSN and Live.com, according to those familiar with the signed, but not yet announced, deal.

While Blinkx was not immediately available for comment, a Microsoft spokesperson downplayed the agreement.

The agreement allows Microsoft's multimedia and online products to "have the option to integrate Blinkx services if their customers request such a service," a spokesperson told internetnews.com.

For the moment, however, "there are no firm plans to integrate," according to the Microsoft spokesperson.

The technology used by Blinkx differs from that used to search much of the Internet. Rather than scanning text, the San Francisco company employs voice recognition to search the audio portion of videos.

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About Blinkx

Blinkx is the world's largest and most advanced video search engine. Fed by automatic spiders that crawl the web for audio video content and content partnerships with over 60 leading content and media companies, blinkx uses visual analysis and speech recognition to better understand rich media content. Users can search for content, create personal TV channels that automatically splice relevant content together and even use our download feature to automatically download content to mobile devices. blinkx is a privately-held firm, based in San Francisco and London and was founded in early 2004 by Suranga Chandratillake.

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