Google Adds Video Sharing To Orkut

Ever since Google’s widely publicized acquisition of YouTube, video enthusiasts have been chomping at the bit to see how the search giant would integrate the video-sharing site into the framework of its proprietary services. It appears that Google has chosen Orkut for its first YouTube mashup.

Video sharing is no stranger to the social networking landscape. MySpace users have been able to imbed YouTube and MySpace Video code into their pages for some time now, and Facebook users can post video items on their profiles as well.

Google announced yesterday in the company’s official blog that Orkut users are now able to add video playlists to their user profiles:

From now on, when you see that crazy video you feel is a must see for all your friends, now you can create your own video playlist on orkut to share with anyone who visits your profile.

And because we know your friends will love your videos as much as you do, we’ve added an “Add to my favorites” button that lets you easily make your friend’s favorite videos appear on your list.

Google has been slow to develop Orkut’s functionality, and this announcement is wholly indicative of the social network’s delayed adaptation of features to which MySpace and Facebook users have already grown accustomed.

Currently, Orkut users will only be able to add videos from YouTube and Google Video to their profiles. There is no mention of future plans to allow videos from other sharing sites such as Revver or Metacafe.

Even with the addition of video, Google still has a long way to go in order to groom Orkut as a legitimate contender in the social networking market.

According to a survey from Compete, MySpace is the top site in which users spend the most time online. In comparison, the time users spend on all Google’s domains combined amounts to less than twenty percent of MySpace’s total.

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Joe is a staff writer for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest ebusiness news.