Blinkx Expands to Include Podcast and Vlog Searches

Posted on June 30, 2005

TechWeb reports that Blinkx, a video search tool, has expanded to include searches of both podcasts and vlogs. The company says it is biggest Podcast repository online and that they are currently tracking over 20,000 podcasts. There are not nearly as many vlogs on the web as podcasts but the number is expected to climb as better software and editing tools come available to consumers. TechWeb has more on Blinkx's plans.

Blinkx's site focuses on TV video, which it searches and shows through partnerships with content providers, such as CNN and Fox News. In order to gain access to content not available for free over the web, Blinkx, like other video search engines, has to negotiate agreements with the content providers.
In the case of podcasts, which are programming created by individuals; or video blogs, the multimedia version of weblogs, the content is available directly on the web, and therefore searchable by Blinkx's web crawlers, Suranga Chandratillake, founder of the company, said.
Blinkx decided to start searching the new forms of web content because of demand from people using its service and the fact that the company has seen a 25-fold increase in the amount of the material available on the web, Chandratillake said. Podcasts make up 95 percent of the content, and video blogs 5 percent.