Google’s original video platform Google Video has finally made the decision to shut down the service the pre-dated it’s YouTube acquisition. From the 29th April playback of any Google Video will no longer be enabled and the ability to store your content will be removed after May 13th 2011.
It’s only surprising that Google took so long to make the decision to close down the service and encourage users to migrate over to YouTube. What is unclear if the closure of Google Video kills the ability to search multiple video platforms and not just YouTube…?
How do I download my Google Videos i’ve uploaded?
Google has added a download button to their Video Status page so any users can download their videos but this download feature will be disabled after May 13th 2011. The videos are encoded as FLV files so they can be easily uploaded to other Google platforms such as YouTube or Picassa Web Albums or played on a desktop application.
What is the limitations?
If you have a number of videos there is no bulk download feature so you will need to navigate via the paging controls to access all your videos.
Who it affects?
Since Google Video stopped accepting new uploads back in May 2009, it’s likely only to affect a handful of publishers but they are likely upset as they had a captive and protected market.