Problems with Google Video, Service

Users have been filling the Google Video Help message boards with reports of problems uploading video and are apparently getting little, if any, help from Google.

Problems started on April 12, when users uploaded video only to have two seconds of a grey box — or nothing — appear when they checked the file online. Others report issues with the uploader starting and stopping on a loop during the upload process.

From reading through the comments, it looks like the trouble is with files larger than 100MB that were uploaded through the Google Desktop Video Uploader. The web-based uploader seems to be working fine.

Perhaps more disappointing than the problems is the response from Google. On April 14, a Google staffer named Arubato posted to the forum that Google was aware of the problem and looking into it. Arubato then asked for more technical details — and dropped off the face of of the forum. It’s now three days later, and people are still posting errors.

Google did send out what looks like a form letter at one point. But it was vague:

Hi,

Thanks for your email. We’re aware of this problem, and our engineers are looking into it. We hope to have it fixed soon. Google Video, like other Labs projects, is a work in progress. We appreciate your feedback and support as we work to improve this service.

Want to discuss Google Video with other users or find tips on the best video encoding technology? Visit http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Video-Help to search past posts and stay up to date on any new features or issues. Also, visit the Google Video Status Blog at http://googlevideostatus.blogspot.com/ for system alerts, outages, and status updates.

Sincerely,
The Google Team

In a telling instance of just how much Google neglects its own video service, the Google Video Status Blog the customer service letter points to hasn’t been updated since Nov. 19, 2007.

With YouTube sucking up more than 10 hours of video per minute, it’s weird that Google still hangs on to its own video upload service and all that unnecessary overlap.

We contacted Google PR to get some answers. We’ll update as soon as they get back to us.

UPDATE: Here’s a statement from a Google spokesperson:

“Recently, some users experienced difficulties uploading videos using the Google Video desktop uploader.

This issue was resolved yesterday evening, and we ask users to re-upload any videos affected by the outage.

Affected users can find an update on the issue in the Google Video Help Group. Users who are still experiencing problems after re-uploading their videos should contact the Google Video Support Team through the Google Video Help Center.”

Thanks to Wired Epicenter blog for the heads up.