Top Video Sharing Sites

As at AUGUST 14, 2006

A recent video sharing survey: Online Video: Show Us the Money looks at 2006 being the year online video really came into its own.


Between the borders of popular viral videos and just oh so not again home videos of men getting it in the gonads there is a plethora of videos to entertain and inform.

• Online videos are having an enormous impact on bandwidth consumption and how broadband providers make money.
• Along with HDTV, gaming, personal and digital photography, video is contributing to higher benchmarks in broadband standards.
• Content distribution networks are also ramping up, with Web-based services making it easy to exchange larger and larger files.
• Internet TV companies such as Akimbo Systems deliver both regular TV channels and some consumer-generated content.
• Content makers and advertisers are seeking out online video sites as a way to reach younger demographics. And Microsoft is not letting go - MSN will soon integrate with Windows Live Spaces and across MSN.com.

Top Ten Video Sharing Sites

Some of the Internet's most popular video sharing sites in terms of posting videos rather than just looking include:

1. Blip.tv - specialize in original content
2. VideoEgg
3. Dailymotion
4. YouTube
5. Veoh
6. Google Video - no file size limitations
7. Grouper
8. Jumpcut
9. AOL
10. Eyespot

See complete video sharing site rankings

Most sites limit file sizes to 100MB; with some, such as eyespot also limiting the number of files up can upload at one time.

Many content creators are using the Internet as a cheap distribution platform. Others are just compulsive viral video posters looking for an "Internet hit."

Sites are generally rated according to:

• Ease of Use
• Video editing capabilities
• File size limit
• Costs
• Videos sharing controls - can it be kept private
• Software download necessary

Terms Of Use

Most free video sharing services, with few exceptions, grant themselves a license to monetize and advertise your uploaded content any way they like. However, as the competition between video sharing sites heats up, offers are now being made to revenue share ad revenues with the content owner.

A typical terms of use, such as Yahoo Inc grants itself the right to use your videos "for advertising, promotional or commercial purposes, including without limitation, the right to publicly display, perform, reproduce and distribute Your Video Content in any media format or medium and through any media channels."

If you are looking to expand the content you upload to a video sharing sites into a commercial product, you need to be careful that you haven't just signed away your rights.

Traffic and Performance

There is quite some difference between the upload performance of video sharing sites. There is also a big range in the traffic. Both these factors affect the user experience and the ongoing popularity of the site.

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