Google Video Targets International Audience

Google, the world’s leading search engine, has signed on a number of international partners to help boost awareness of its Google Video service, which lets users post, share and rate video clips, BBC News reports.

The pact between Google and its new partners will enable Web surfers in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom to view and rate such content as Wimbledon tennis matches, sitcoms and documentaries on the Google Video sites, according to BBC News. International Google Video users will also be able to post and view user-generated content. The Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant launched its video-sharing sites in the aforementioned countries as it signed on with its new partners, BBC News reports.

Google inked deals with ITN, IMG Media—which holds the video rights to Wimbledon matches—the Cousteau Society, Buena Vista International and France’s National Audiovisual Archive, among others, according to BBC News. 

Google Video debuted in April 2005, but it failed to catch on in the mainstream, and its success has been dwarfed by popular video-sharing sites like YouTube.com and Guba.com, BBC News reports.

Previously, all content available on Google Video was posted via the company’s U.S. site, according to BBC News.

Since the content on each site is at least in part user-generated, Google hopes the videos will reflect popular culture and other trends related to each corresponding country.

Anyone from amateurs with digital camcorders to professional movie studios can post on Google Video, and each individual poster is given the option of charging for access to their content, BBC News reports.

As is the case with many of Google’s free Web services, Google Video counts on advertisements to drive revenue for the company.

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