Google is reportedly looking to acquire video search startup, Baarzo

Google is reportedly in active talks to acquire video search startup Baarzo, although it remains unclear whether a final agreement has already been reached. Baarzo allows users to search for moments within videos, for example finding an athlete doing specific actions within a clip. The company itself describes its product as “true video search.” The company is private and does not have open signups so it is unclear how well the service works. However, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is said to have been wholly impressed by a demo of the tech by co-founder and CTO Siva Yellamrajuat at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Baarzo explains the tech a little more: “Unlike Google or YouTube searches, which only evaluate the text around the video, the Baarzo search technology actually analyzes the video content, recognizing hundreds of thousands of objects and millions of faces, and locates the precise moment in the video when the search objects interact in the way you had specified.”

Google has been in talks to acquire video search startup Baarzo, according to sources with knowledge of the company. However, those sources were less clear about whether the companies had reached a final agreement. (One suggested that the deal had closed, the other was noncommittal.) The companies both declined to comment, Google offering its standard note: “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.” Baarzo describes its product as “true video search,” allowing users find specific moments in a video, like a slam dunk in a basketball clip. If it delivers on that promise (I can’t say one way or another, since the company is not accepting signups), that would be pretty appealing to Google, both for search in YouTube and for the company’s efforts to offer “universal” search across media types. Apparently Google Executive Chairman (and former CEO) Eric Schmidt was impressed by a demonstration of the technology at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, where co-founder and CTO Siva Yellamraju just got his MBA. Here’s a little more of Baarzo’s description of its technology: “Unlike Google or YouTube searches, which only evaluate the text around the video, the Baarzo search technology actually analyzes the video content, recognizing hundreds of thousands of objects and millions of faces, and locates the precise moment in the video when the search objects interact in the way you had specified.”