I guess this is old news, but Google has a video site now. I didn’t even realize I’d been there before, but my browser completed the URL as I typed it. Some pretty amusing videos there, and the big hullabaloo over them actually charging people for stuff. I got cable, I got Netflix. Why would I pay for crappy internet videos? Even if I didn’t have those, who’s paying $2 for an episode of the original Twilight Zone? For that price I could get it on DVD. However, it is a good source for viral Internet video clips, hosted for free (for now). Like iFilm, but without the mandatory commercials, and with potentially higher quality video.
There are a few annoyances, like no true browse feature. A link that says “Another 15 popular videos” is a big fat liar. All it does is refresh the page with another random video assortment, so some of the same videos keep popping up. It forces you to use a proprietary video viewer for DRM purposes, but it scales poorly compared to Windows Media Player. And some videos are only available through an embedded Flash player. Being Google, you can of course search, but also like Google, you’ll get a lot of irrelevant videos in the results.
Some of the more entertaining videos:
A reasonable attempt at deciphering Fall Out Boy. I’m not sure if emo can be translated to English, but a solid effort.
Dumbest dog you will ever see.
Bored Russian kids that could teach the Olympics a thing or two about making feats of senseless athleticism entertaining.
The system administrator song.
If you have a good week to burn away, go to Stileproject.com or EbaumsWorld.com.
They have all these videos updated regularly.
Although there are many more copycat sites (I have a bookmark folder with about 8 of the best ones that I check daily), the ones I mentioned have a good archive section that goes back through a few YEARS worth of media.
Be warned! Stileproject includes lots of porno clips in their updates (with plenty of pay-site links thrown around) which is convenient because I get to see boobies with my wife near, while pretending to only be looking at the site for the funny (non-sexual) videos.
“Oh darn honey look, more lesbians wrestling in jello. And I just wanted to see the clip where two old farts throw punches. (sigh)”
wink wink
Yes, I’ve been to both. Big selection, but much of it is not safe for work, as you mentioned. Last I checked, some of the Stile Project videos were just disturbing, but that was some time ago.
Fact is, my friends prove to be excellent filters. I generally get forwarded only the most amusing videos (judging by all the crap available). So for me, the system works.
I forgot to mention the biggest draw for video.google, which is that anyone can post their stuff for Google to host. They may start charging for that soon, but for a long time you could just upload your baby/party/vacation footage that nobody wants to see, and forward the link to the relatives who care. Useful for many who don’t want to deal with hosting it themselves.
You may have also heard of Lamermelculo.com, but that’s DEFINITELY not safe for work. I think there’s some great videos but there’s probably more like 75% weird porno content. But I was wondering when Google would have the video search since I was making such good use out of Yahoo’s video search engine. I’ve always found it to be pretty reliable and with good results.