MUMBAI: Internet video search firm Truveo has been acquired by US internet company America Online (AOL).
AOL says that the move solidifies its position as the destination for a full suite of video and search services.
The California based Truveo was co-founded by CEO Dr. Tim Tuttle and CTO Dr. Adam Beguelin in January 2004. Truveo subsequently launched its premier video search engine technology in September 2005.
Truveo's approach to video search utilises a proprietary web crawling technology called "Visual Crawling". This unique technology has enabled Truveo to amass one of the most comprehensive indexes of high-quality, current video on the web.
The strength of Truveo's Visual Crawling is its ability to automatically discover video files and related information on complex, dynamic web pages – a task that has been notoriously challenging for existing conventional crawling technologies.
Truveo’s technology continuously crawls the most popular video content sites on the web in real-time to provide consumers with the most updated and relevant results that include breaking news, sports, and entertainment video. As a result of this approach, Truveo's video search engine includes a large selection of popular video that cannot be found in any other search engine – helping consumers to find the ‘eureka’ moment in their online video search experience every single time.
Once Truveo is integrated within AOL’s search and video products in the coming months, AOL.com will deliver a video ‘one-stop-shop’ search experience that provides consumers with the access, functionality, premium assets, original content, and advanced search tools for unparalleled online video discovery. The acquisition of Truveo by AOL complements and enhances AOL in the video search engine arena, beginning with the purchase of Seattle-based Singingfish in November 2003, and continuing with the launch of AOL Video Search in June 2005.
AOL has made several additional announcements recently, expanding its compelling repertoire of consumer video and search offerings to include: the launch of its Video on Demand destination on AOL.com; the record-breaking global broadcast online of the “Live 8” concerts; an extensive library of over 20,000 original, premium video assets; high-quality video playback through the new “Hi-Q” video format. it also made content and original programming agreements – such as the Warner Bros. “In2TV” offering and the AOL-Telepictures new, on-demand entertainment news network – TMZ.com; and, AOL’s exciting investment and partnership with Brightcove, a web video distribution pioneer.
AOL chairman and CEO Jonathan F. Miller says, “Consumers across the web have eagerly anticipated a video search engine that offers relevant, up-to-the-minute, premium video results. The addition of Truveo’s video search technology, video assets, and experienced talent complements the overall video experience on AOL and takes it to new heights. Truveo is a hidden gem in the video marketplace, offering AOL members and users of AOL.com a vast, new array of tools and an extensive collection of updated, hard-to-find video assets. The Truveo acquisition takes AOL even farther down the path of being the premier destination on the internet for video and search.”