[1] Initially focused on searching TV program transcripts,[2] it soon evolved to allow hosting video clips on Google servers and embedding onto other websites, akin to YouTube.
[3] With Google's acquisition of YouTube, new video uploads ceased in 2009,[4] and the service was ultimately shut down on August 20, 2012.
The service launched with independent films Aardvark'd: 12 Weeks with Geeks, and Waterborne, as well as content from media partners CBS, the NBA, The Charlie Rose Show, and Sony BMG.
In addition, the U.S. National Archive used Google Video to make historic films available online, but this project was later discontinued.
While the Video Uploader application was available as three separate downloads, the Linux version was written in Java, a cross-platform programming language, and would therefore also work on other operating systems without modifications, providing that the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is installed.
Consequently, it could be run from removable media such as USB flash drives, CD-ROMs, or network storage.
Permalinks to a certain point in a video were also possible, in the format of http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=
The list can be removed with a hex editor to avoid playback issues with various video players.
There are also privately developed software solutions, such as GVideo Fix, that can convert them to .avi format without recompression.
Google offered users the means to save only some of the videos on the site, mostly for copyright reasons.
[citation needed] While initially only available in the United States, over time Google Videos had become available to users in more countries and could be accessed from many other countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan.
Regardless of general availability, content providers were given the opportunity to limit access to video files to only users from certain countries of residence.
[12] Thereafter, search result links opened a frameset with a Google Video header at the top, and the original player page below it.
Credits for users were made available as values for Google Checkout and were valid for 60 days.
[citation needed] On April 15, 2011, Google announced that they would stop hosting user-uploaded videos.
The plan would make videos unavailable for public viewing on April 29 and removed from users' accounts in 28 days.
They will start automatically migrating videos to YouTube instead, as well as providing easier tools for account holders to do so themselves.