VideoJug the Online ‘How to’ Video Search Engine - Getting into Vertical
Great idea, my only consolation is that I was also thinking of starting a DIY video search engine, but we were only at the discussion phase. More and more of them are appearing on the market, like eHow, or ViewDo, TeacherTube, ExpertVillage, and now VideoJug. VideoJug has been dubbed the best of its type (online how-to) by WNBC. Interestingly enough, though, Peter Schankowitz, VideoJug’s U.S. chief executive considers VideoJug a “video encyclopedia of life” rather than a how to vertical search engine offering thousands of videos on how to do things to avoid getting lost in the jungle of life, existence, leben, vida etc. There are indeed videos on basic things like What is a meteor? / an eclipse? etc. But shouldn’t encyclopaedic issues be placed be on another vertical search and incorporated into Wikipedia? Will VideoJug be better off by aiming to ‘explain life on film’ as their slogan says, or getting into the real vertical online ‘how to’? (By the way, Peter Schankowitz was the producer of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “The Simpsons,” but from January works for Video Jug.)
OK, my other consolation is that NewTeevee has not written about VideoJug yet. Not to say as if they were the utmost authority on video advertising, far from that, but usually they cover the more interesting bits and pieces. The reason for their lack of attention? Maybe the fact that, as Kenneth Li at Reuters writes “VideoJug makes its debut in the U.S. on Sunday, aiming to provide the meaning on everything one encounters in life, if not the meaning of life itself. More than 15,000 video clips explaining everything from how to tie a Windsor knot to how to cope with chemotherapy accompany the relaunch of the site. An additional 100,000 originally produced clips are promised over the summer.” Hey, that sounds cool. I am a great fan of how to videos. Especially, if you get really important how-to guidelines for life’s top ten questions, like ‘How to get out of a car gracefully without showing your knickers?’ or How to have a man to man hug without an embarrassing collision, or hugging too long? And if you wonder how you can bump into such an indispensably video instrcution, use the keywords “Paris Hilton, Britney, Lindsay” like a Hungarian teenage girl did.
So how did I find videojug.com? So simply: through checking Google Hot Trends for June 3rd with the search term ‘video.’ And there you go. They took the bronze medal in the US hot searches, with a hotness level ‘on fire,’ and with related searches ‘videojug, video jug, www.videojug.com, video de rbd, grouchy’
What about user generated contents? Well UGC is limited by an editorial team, despite the old lessons learnt from YouTube’s success. “Over time, Schankowitz sees viewers contributing their own video tips on myriad topics, which will be vetted by its team of editors. The company employs about 100 people split between the United States and Britain.”
Video Jug beta’s front page is way to cluttered for me, and downloading takes ……
takes
…..
@ąßąę $£‹{›£&}
….
still takes
a long time.
OK, I have given it up, after the third trial. Still couldn’t see anything. YouTube has some advantages. For the moment.