Yahoo! is latest to come out with YouTube rival

by Jennifer Whitehead, Brand Republic 06-Oct-06, 11:00

LONDON - Yahoo! is the latest of the big internet firms to launch its own video site in an attempt to keep up with YouTube.

Yahoo! Video lets users upload, watch and search for videos. Yahoo! says that it has more content than other video websites because it crawls the web, accepts uploads and receives direct feeds. It will also include videos that Yahoo! already hosts on its music, news, sports film and TV channels and even material from rival YouTube.

As well as watching videos, Yahoo! is encouraging the community aspect that has made YouTube so popular. This lets users rate, review and share videos, as well as compile their own list of favourites. Content can be shared via Yahoo! Messenger and email.

There is also a program called Yahoo! Studio, which lets people who upload videos -- dubbed publishers by Yahoo! -- track the ratings of their videos, create channels and generally attempt to earn web fame for themselves.

Jeff Revoy, vice-president and European director of Yahoo! Search and Local Search, said: "As the video space continues to emerge and become increasingly popular, our strengths in social search, content, personalisation and community make it possible for Yahoo! to offer a highly engaging video experience for both users and publishers."

Microsoft launched a beta-version of a video service, called Soapbox, last month.

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