NBC Universal Picks Google-Killing Search Technology

Search is the main way people navigate the Web these days, but video remains an exception. Video sites like market leader YouTube and its fast-charging rival, NBC Universal-owned Hulu, get the lion’s share of their video traffic by getting customers to go directly to their sites, in contrast to most content providers, who attract customers through search (primarily Google, of course).

Now, NBC Universal has reached a deal with video search provider Everyzing that may alter that paradigm and, in so doing, give it a significant edge over its rivals. The technology analyzes audio, embedded text and images in video to mark up that content in a way that will make it pop up more prominently in search engines like Google’s. The irony here is that Google may end up sending traffic to Hulu, which is part-owned by NBC Universal, thus stealing traffic away from its own site, YouTube.

Kurt Scherf, principal analyst with Parks Associates, agreed with the premise that, currently, most traffic to video sites comes from people going directly to sites like YouTube or Hulu. But that’s because they’ve gotten aversion-training to searching for video through normal search engines — not that search within video sites is any great shakes either. YouTube’s name-brand advantage may well become irrelevant once consumers realize that Google searches will bring up the videos they’re looking for as effectively, if not more so, than going directly to a site and searching there.

The technology created by Everyzing is supposed to not only help its customers improve their standing on major search portals, but keep users on its customers’ sites by providing more accurate internal search results. Blinkx and Truveo (a subsidiary of AOL), not to mention Google Video, have greater name recognition than Everyzing, but CEO Tom Wilde isn’t concerned with that. In fact, Everyzing doesn’t even have a consumer-facing site for searching — the company’s aim is to help its customers succeed by boosting their visibility on major search portals like Google, Yahoo and MSN. According to Wilde, the company’s strategy is to help media companies monetize their content, rather than seek to gain brand recognition. “Our strategic focus is on the needs and opportunities of the big media companies. That is our only focus in life,” he told me.

As an example, NBC Universal has a Web site called Petside.com which aggregates existing content about pets from all its other properties. The site generates great margins because it’s run by a single editor, and any boost to its search visibility will significantly boost revenues.

The video search market is estimated at around $1 billion for 2009, but is expected to quadruple to more than $4 billion by 2011, according to Wilde. In addition to the agreement with NBC Universal, Everyzing has a video search deal in place with Fox Sports, a subsidiary of Hulu’s other joint owner, News Corp., and has trials running on the Web sites of ABC Disney, CBS Radio, and Reuters. The deal with NBC Universal doesn’t mean Everyzing will automatically get used by Hulu, but the agreement will be “helpful for us getting access to those other companies,” including Hulu, he said.

Everyzing was spun out of BBN, a public-private partnership that created telephony and broadcast monitoring technology for the U.S. military.

—

MoneyWatch Poll: How Has the Financial Crisis Affected You?