Google Video Shutdown: Moving to YouTube is an Inconvenience

I am not sure many of your might have known of a service called Google Video. The service allows users to search for videos along with uploading videos they might have online.

Google Video was created as a competitor to YouTube but the latter simply took an unassailable lead. Google then bought YouTube and today it does play host to several hundreds of millions of videos and equal number of users.

So Google has realized that maintaining to similar services was not really useful and decided to shut down Google Videos. Message on Google Video’s website reads:

On April 29 2011, uploaded videos will no longer be available for playback.

Now when we access our videos on Google Videos, a download button shows up and we can download the files in FLV format.

Moving from Google Video to YouTube is difficult!

• The message is short and simple but if you have some videos on Google Video and want it transferred to your YouTube account, the method is not at all short and simple.
• First we need to download all the video files on our computer and then separately upload them on YouTube.
• I find it difficult to belive, how Google will retain Google Video users to YouTube with this strange request. I mean if you are moving files from one service to another by the same company there should be an easier and automated way.

I guess Google has gone a little lazy and instead of coming up with an online tool to transfer from Google Videos to YouTube or Picasa account, it has left the burden on users themselves.

Another reason might be that the usage on Google Video might be so low, that Google does not want to waste time on creating an online tool for it specifically.

What are your views on lack of a simpler system to move videos from Google Videos to YouTube? Do drop in your comments.

Link: Google Videos