Tоp 11 Best Video Search Engines

A video search engine is a special program for searching video content on internal and external servers, including the use of audiovisual indexing (extracting content from a video and converting it into metadata).

Let’s take a look at video search sites that are considered the best and how they work.

1. Google – One of the Best Video Search Systems

Everyone has used Google to search for videos, and 89.7% of users in the world use the system. It is the most popular at the moment.

To find a video of the desired topic, enter its title in the search bar, and click on the Video tab.

If you want to sort the content, you need to open to the Tools section and specify the necessary setting.

Google makes it possible to filter videos by:

Video duration:

• any;
• short (0 to 4 minutes);
• medium (4-20 minutes);
• long (more than 20 minutes).

Time of uploading:

• any;
• past hour;
• the past 24 hours;
• last week;
• last month;
• last year;
• individual value.

Quality: you can choose only high quality without regard to resolution options or any.

Any video or videos with subtitles:

Video sources. Google’s algorithm works in such a way that videos from YouTube are shown first when searching. Moreover, the top includes videos from YouTube, which were previously published on Facebook and collected more views there than on YouTube.

This filter allows you to run a Google video search on the following resources: YouTube, Vogue, Harpersbazaar, Trendsignbook, wwd.com, Fashionbeans.

Moreover, the selection of sources is related to the search query, i.e., fashion trends 2020. If we change the query to “best smartphones 2020,” the video sources will also change.

Google not only offers relevant content but also a list of sources where you are more likely to find the video you want.

If you are not satisfied with the results, you can select advanced video search in the settings.

Here you can select options for search results: all words or an exact match, as well as configure the display of a video that contains any of the search words and specify negative word options. 

For example, we need a selection of the best smartphones of 2020, but without  Xiaomi. Then we can select the search language, duration, quality of the video, date of uploading, and indicate the site or domain on which the desired video is located and click Advanced search.

When you click on the video, you open the site where the video is posted directly.

If you are a marketing professional and want to know what video content is trending in a specific region, you can use Google Trends.

On the tab with search results in the Web Search section, select YouTube Search, search region, analysis period. Search in a specific category if necessary.

The service will analyze the popularity of the topic on YouTube and show the regions where it is most in demand.

As you can see, the topic “Trends 2020” was most popular at the beginning of this year, and it sharply decreased in June, and by the fall, it began to gain popularity again. Most of all, the fashion trends of the current year are interesting for the citizens of Delaware.

Google Trends additionally provides tips on topics that are gaining popularity and related queries. Read more in the article How to use Google Trends for SEO.

2. YouTube – Biggest Video Search Engine

More than 2 billion people worldwide use YouTube. Moreover, 15% of users are Americans. Every minute, 500 hours of content is uploaded, and there are currently over a billion videos on YouTube. Users spend 3.2 billion hours a month watching videos.

YouTube broadcasts videos that are uploaded to the platform, as well as from other sites.

The platform uses special algorithms when ranking content. It tries to make a selection based on the interests of users. The most popular videos, videos with more likes, comments, and a high duration of views are shown more often.

The home page contains videos that match your interests and subscriptions. The content is selected individually. There is a selection of videos by category based on the search history.

In the Trending section, new videos that are popular in the country of the user are published. It includes videos that quickly gain views and channels that regularly publish videos and increase the base of subscribers.

New videos from the channels to which the user is subscribed have been published in the Subscriptions section.

The Library section contains the history of views and videos that have been added to watch later, playlists, and liked videos.

If you need to find a video on a specific topic, use the search system where you can filter videos by various criteria:

Uploading date: 

• past hour;
• today;
• this week;
• this month;
• this year.

Type:

• videos (videos that contain content from the request);
• channel (search for channels for a requested topic);
• playlist (several videos);
• film (selection of exclusively feature films);
• show (the algorithm selects shows that are requested, but there are content restrictions by country).

Video duration (up to 4 minutes, more than 20 minutes).

Characteristics:

• Live Stream;
• 4K, HD, HDR (by video quality);
• Subtitles;
• Creative Commons license;
• 360 ° (circular videos that make it possible to view the picture from all angles);
• 3D;
• VR180 (augmented reality video);
• Location (videos that relate to a specific city or country);
• Purchased.

By upload date, views, and ratings:

Besides reading tags, YouTube’s algorithm is capable of speech recognition. Therefore, videos that contain keywords at the beginning of the video are more likely to get to the top.

The platform has the following apps:

1. YouTube TV (here you can subscribe to your favorite TV channels for a fee and watch YouTube).
2. Music (in the application, you can subscribe to your favorite artists, watch videos, create playlists).
3. Kids (the application automatically selects the video for the age of the child and based on the wishes of the parents and the child).
4. Creator academy (YouTube training academy).
5. For artists (an app where artists can promote their creativity).

3. Yahoo – The Best Alternative to Google

More than 6% of users use it. Yahoo video search is similar to Google. Just type in a request and click on the Video tab. The selection is ready.

Please note that the results of Google and Yahoo are different for the same query. At the same time, videos from YouTube remain a priority. It is due to differences in the algorithms of the search engine, which primarily searches for text placed next to links and metadata attached to a video file.

In Yahoo, you can use filters when searching for videos. Videos are sorted:

By duration: short up to 5 minutes, medium 5-20 minutes, long over 20 minutes.

By the date of adding: past 24 hours, last week, last month, last year.

By resolution: 360р, 480р, 720р, 1080р.

By sources: YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Metacafe, CBS, MTV.com, Fox, CNN, MSN.

At the same time, the list of sources does not depend on the subject of the content like on Google.

When you click on a video from the list, the Yahoo player opens it in the same window, and you can view videos from the collection without opening the sites and domains where they are located.

There is no advanced search function on Yahoo.

4. Bing

It currently covers up to 35% of the US market. This popularity is due to the well-thought-out interface and good relevance of the search results.

Like other search engines, Bing has a filter. Video content can be filtered:

By duration (up to 5 minutes, 5-20 minutes, more than 20 minutes).

By date (last 24 hours, last week, month, year).

By resolution (below 360p, 360p, 480p, 720p and 1080p).

By sources (YouTube, Myspace, Dailymotion, Metacafe).

By cost (paid or free).

The list of video search sources is more limited compared to previous services.

The list of resources does not adapt to the search query and remains standard.

The advantage of searching for videos on Bing is the ease of listing. The system analyzes the type of information and places video content in a separate tab.

The downside of Bing is that it pays attention to the age of the domain, so the content in search results is often outdated. That is proven by our selection where the most recent result was published four months ago. However, you can choose the date of the video posting.

There is no advanced filter in the Bing search engine.

5. AOL Video Search

The search system is similar to the previous ones but is less known. It is used by only 0.03% of users. To search for a video, you need to enter a search term and click on the Video tab.

The AOL filter is simpler compared to the previous search systems. There is no choice of source, but you can choose the length of the video (short, medium, or long), date of addition (last 24 hours, last week, and last month), resolution (480p, 720p, 1080p), and safe search for those under 18.

Videos are watched in the player like in the previous search engines.

6. Dailymotion

It is the second-largest video viewing platform after YouTube; the site has over 300 million users and 3.5 billion videos. The home page has a selection of the most popular videos, news, entertainment, music, and sports.

The peculiarity of the platform is that it is impossible to place videos longer than 60 minutes and more than 4GB, and it is also impossible to view videos from other platforms.

Videos can be filtered:

By novelty and views.

By duration (up to 1 minute, 1-5 minutes, 5-30 minutes, 30 minutes – 1 hour, more than 1 hour).

By date of uploading (today, last week, last month, last year).

The platform automatically sorts the results by video types, channels, and playlists. Also, the videos are divided into groups, categories, and keywords.

7. DuckDuckGo

The priority for the system is user privacy. DuckDuckGo processes up to 40 million requests daily. 0.18% of users use it. When selecting videos, the search engine automatically gives preference to the most relevant and new ones. Video filters and functionality are identical to AOL.

8. Ask

It is a search engine that answers questions. In addition to answers, Ask makes a selection of video content on a given question.

It is used by 0.19% of users.

Results can be filtered by the following criteria:

Most relevant, most popular, most viewed, earliest.

By quality (any, HD, 3D).

By duration (any, short from 0 to 4 minutes, medium 4-20 minutes, long 20+ minutes).

9. Metacafe

This video search engine is intended for sharing videos, posting, and watching short videos. The site has over 40 million users. Metacafe hosts several million videos.

The home page has a selection of the latest, most popular, and trending videos. It is possible to find videos on the desired topic. The site contains mostly entertaining amateur videos.

You can filter content:

By 18 categories (18+, comedy, sports, etc).

By criteria: related, newest, and most popular.

By type: video or channel.

10. Ecosia

The peculiarity of the Ecosia search engine is that more than 80% of its profits are directed to environmental protection. The search is carried out due to Bing and Yahoo. The service accounts for 0.05% of requests.

Videos can be filtered by resolution (480p, 720p, or 1080p), duration (short, medium, or long), time of uploading (last 24 hours, last week, last month). The priority is given to YouTube videos.

11. Dogpile

Searching for video content occurs thanks to results from Google, Yahoo, Yandex, Bing, which improves search results. But a significant disadvantage of the site is the lack of filters. The search engine is chosen by 0.01% of users.

The principle of operation is similar to other video search sites.

The top results are generated from the materials that are the most relevant for the search query.

In summary, it can be said that Google and YouTube are the best video search sites. They offer users an advanced search engine, plus they have a user-friendly and intuitive interface.