Media Companies Partner with Yahoo! Search

The online arms of seven traditional media companies have partnered with Yahoo Video Search to better expose their video content, and accompanying advertising, to Web users. The partnerships come as the portal takes its Video Search site out of beta.

Buena Vista Pictures, CBS News, CMT, Discovery Communications, MTV Networks, Reuters, and Scripps Networks have all signed deals to have their content indexed by Yahoo Earlier this week, Google announced similar relationships with Discovery Communications, C-SPAN, Fox News, PBS, and several local television affiliates in the San Francisco Bay Area. Google’s product is still in beta testing and currently includes only still images.

TV players have begun looking seriously at creating and repurposing their video content online in an effort to woo brand advertisers eager to reach Internet audiences. MTV Networks recently started up the Overdrive broadband channel with launch sponsorships from Procter & Gamble, Sony Pictures and Microsoft. Meanwhile, CBS recently formed a digital media unit in part to further explore online advertising. Partnering with video search engines may help these players serve more video and more ads.

“This relationship greatly expands the number of users who will have immediate access to our vast reservoir of current and historical broadband CBS News video — all for free,” Betsy Morgan, VP for business development at CBS News, said in a statement.

For its part, Yahoo hasn’t announced plans to serve advertising on its video search pages, but says it’s exploring a number of possible revenue models. For now, the company is focused on creating a better user experience.

“We’re focused on the ‘find and use’ aspect right now. We have to get the experience up to the right level before you transition to other models,” said Jeff Karnes, head of media search at Yahoo Search.