Google Video lets you search through transcripts of television content, and if what you are looking for is found it will show you the relevant transcript sections along with a still image clip of the broadcast. The name Google Video never really sounds right for this service–there is really nothing to do with videos. Until now.

Google has announced the Google Video Upload program through which anyone–amateur or professional–can upload their videos. Apparently, if it’s of your dog doing tricks, you’ve got a great vacation video, or a one hour National Geographic special, it’s all good with them. Flickr on steroids! Better yet, you can choose to let people see the video for free or, if that dog trick is really sweet, you can charge people to see it.

After reading what some other bloggers wrote about this new service yesterday (no, I’m not slow–this isn’t a “news” blog), I actually set out this morning to write a warning to not use it until we know more about it. I read their warnings of the ominous wording in the Terms and Conditions where big, bad Google could really screw you. Well, I just read through it all and I’m not at all paranoid about it. And, if I’m wrong, here’s what I found in the Video Upload FAQ that saves you anyway:

8. Can I remove my videos after I upload them?

Yes. Please let our support team know and we’ll remove your content from the program.

If you don’t like how the program turns out, pull your video. It’s as simple as that.

So, here are the basic highlights you should know about:

• There is no timetable yet for when uploaded videos will be available to the public
• You must own the copyright to the video. (You should know that a copyright doesn’t need to be filed to own the copyright). You continue to own the copyright and simply license Google to host it
• The video cannot contain pornographic or obscene material
• Google must formally accept your video; inclusion is not automatic
• Once you upload the video, you can still update the information, or ask them to remove it
• You can let people play your video for free, or charge users a fee. If you charge a fee, you get 70% of what Google collects. The following clause in Google’s Terms and Conditions has some feathers ruffled by fellow bloggers “If We incur extraordinary costs and expenses in hosting, indexing and displaying Your Authorized Content relative to its designated price, then We may retain a greater percentage of the revenues in order to defray these costs. If You have not designated a price for Your Authorized Content and We incur extraordinary costs and expenses in hosting, indexing and displaying Your Authorized Content, we may charge a fee in order to defray these costs.” It sounds like legalese to me and I cannot imagine that Google will do this without letting you know, and if you don’t like it you can pull the video.
• Google will create excerpt clips for the marketing of your video
• There are measures in place to protect your content.
• You can use the video to steer people to your website
• There is no limitation in video size or the number of videos you send

I don’t really see a downside to giving it a shot. Hobbyists can use it to have some fun with some interesting videos. Amateur or student filmmakers you can use it to show off their work. Professional filmmakers have a new outlet to sell the viewing of their movie. And, clever webmasters can make videos that draw viewers to their websites.