Two years after it announced that it would discontinue video-uploading capabilities at Google Video, Google revealed this week that it would officially shutter the site beginning May 13. But don't feel too bad for Google: It also happens to own the world's most popular video-sharing site, by far: You Tube.
"Later this month, hosted video content on Google Video will no longer be available for playback," an email message from Google reads. "On April 29, 2011, videos that have been uploaded to Google Video will no longer be available for playback. We've added a Download button to the video status page, so you can download any video content you want to save ... The Download feature will be disabled after May 13, 2011."
(And for those who are having difficulty getting downloads to work, CenterNetworks has a nice workaround for making that happen.)
The Google Video shutdown comes amidst other cuts at the online giant, which reported a sharp increase in operating costs in its most recent financial quarter. And of course cutting Google Video makes plenty of sense because of its redundant standing with the far more popular You Tube.
Google is also discontinuing the Google Tags service, a feature of Google Places that lets local businesses enhance their placement in Google Maps search results. That service ends April 29, according to TechCrunch, though a similar Google Boost service may provide an appropriate replacement for businesses still using Tags.
