The launch of Yidio, a new video search engine start-up, shows that investors feel there is still an opportunity to earn market share in video search. Yidio is a division of 2ten Media and debuted in the beginning of June. The San Diego based search engine indexes content from video portals such as YouTube as well as from media outlets (including CNN, ESPN, HBO, and Fox) and even local TV stations. It already has indexed over 200 million videos as well as 3400 free arcade games.

The local TV stations include WPXI in Pittsburgh and WJZ in Baltimore. Yidio.com has a feature that automatically detects user location and displays local news instantly. Users can change their location and radius, which allows local videos of their choice to be displayed. Yidio claims to be the first to market with localization technology for videos.

Adam Eatros, Yidio’s president, asserts that “the local video angle is an interesting option for us, because local companies could serve pre-roll ads, how-to videos, or even sponsor a whole channel just for users in their area.” Eatros thinks that there is a great opportunity in video search, saying, “There’s no real big name that’s doing video search well yet,” and “What better time is there to jump in?”

Yidio is making a major effort to acquaint users with Boolean search, offering a “crash course” as well as listing all the search parameters on the Help page. The site is not currently focused on monetization, according to Eatros, though it does run AdSense video and text ads.

Brandon Eatros, Adam’s brother and co-founder, says, “It was our goal with Yidio.com to provide an all-in-one solution for users to find and watch any video on the internet quickly and easily. We wanted to simplify the lives of our users while producing a value-added service that would be beneficial to everyone.”

Bob Heyman is the Chief Search Officer at Mediasmith in San Francisco, and coined the terms “Audience Development” for building traffic to websites and “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO). His new book, “Digital Engagement,” will be published in January by the publishing arm of the American Management Association. The Video Search column appears on Thursdays at Search Engine Land.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

Related Topics: Video Search