Video rules the internet when it comes to the type of content people like to consume. One study found that 80% of people would prefer to watch a video over reading text, especially on a phone. In addition, online video accounted for over 80% of website traffic last year and almost 40% of people prefer sharing videos over words or images.
Make no mistake – words matter online. After all, SEO is still based on written words. However, videos are an effective marketing tool, and you can still use keywords in the titles of videos, and in the descriptions of videos, to make sure Google recognizes a page with video and ranks it high.
Table of Contents
What Is Reverse Video Search?
You’re probably used to searching for videos like you do any other content. You type certain words or phrases into a search engine and then you watch the videos that appear on the main page of Google search results. A reverse video search, however, involves entering the piece of content (typically, a video or image) into the search engine and seeing what websites it appears on.
It’s a way to see just how viral a video has become and to check who first posted a video. In other words, a reverse video search (RVS) involves putting the video, or a link to it into the search engine and discovering the source of that video on the web and seeing where it has gone.
An Example of Reverse Video Search
Let’s say you own a trampoline company. A real person takes a video of their cat and dog playing on the trampoline and it goes viral. You could use a reverse video search to see just how far and wide it’s spread. Underneath the YouTube video, you’ll see “share video.” Copy that link and paste it into Google’s search box. Hit enter and you’ll see where that video has been posted.
You may see that in addition to YouTube, it also appears in the comments sections of other websites. If you don’t like the spirit in which that video was used in the comments, you can flag the comment for review. Google, which owns YouTube, may remove the comment if it violates one of their policies.
How Reverse Video Search Works
Search engines like Google can interpret the color and pixels in a video and then find similar or exact videos online. This will often reveal the original poster of the video and any other instances of the video online. If you see a negative video, you can check who posted the video. Click on the name of the user who posted it and you’ll see other videos they posted. If they are from a rival company, they cannot (per Google’s policies) post videos of your products that are negative in spirit. Flag the video by clicking the ellipses (the….under the video on YouTube). Google will prompt you to explain why you’re flagging it. It may take awhile for Google to investigate, but if they see that it was posted by a rival company, they’ll remove the video from YouTube.
Reasons to Use Reverse Video Search
There are a few reasons one might want to use reverse video search. Here are the most common use cases:
Find Who Made or Posted a Video
Most often, a reverse video search is used to find the source of a video. Say you find a funny or valuable video online because they love your product. You may want to send them other products (they are, after all, an influencer) to see how much they like them. You’re taking a gamble, but it’s worth a try.
Make Sure Other People Aren’t Stealing Your Videos
Videos can be easy to make or really difficult. Editing and shooting takes time. Sometimes, people will use parts of your video to insert them into their own videos. If you are a video producer, you might want to use a reverse video search to see if anyone has copied or used parts of your original videos. A reverse video search can help you find unethical uses of your content. If that happens, contact the poster. Ask them to remove the video or give you credit, and link to your site.
Find the Complete Version Of A Video Clip
Sometimes you might come across an interesting video clip and want to find the rest of the video. A reverse video search might be able to find the whole video clip. In the trampoline scenario above, you may be able to find other cute or funny anecdotes from the same video. You can then post the whole video on your social media or website.
Help You Brainstorm
A reverse video search may also be able to help you discover content that’s related to the video and inspire you to create new videos. For example, if you owned that trampoline company, maybe you’d find other videos that have gone viral that showcase fun and safe ways families use their trampolines. You could use that as inspiration and create a similar video.
How to Do a Reverse Video Search
There are many ways to conduct a reverse video search. It often requires using the search engine directly or a third-party tool to upload an image from the video. Here are the most effective methods for conducting a reverse video search.
Using Google’s Reverse Image Tool
Google doesn’t offer a reverse search function specific to video, so you will need to take a screenshot of the video and then use the reverse image search function.
Here’s how to do it:
- Find a distinctive second in the video (i.e., a section that seems unique to this video you’re interested in).
- Pause the video.
- Take a screenshot of the frame you wish to capture (Shift-Command-4 on Apple/Mac or Ctrl + PrtScn on Windows). You can also use many Chrome extensions to capture screenshots.
- Save the screenshot.
- Navigate to Google Images and select the camera icon. Use the search by-image option.
- Upload the screenshot.
- Google will return the search results for your screenshot.
Using Berify
Berify is a reverse image and video search tool that matches your search to results from several search engines at once, including Google and Bing. It works well, which is why they charge you a fee. For example, lawyers use it to make sure their clients’ content isn’t being misused. This may provide more complete results than using a single search engine.
Note: This website allows you to sign up for free, but will then charge a monthly subscription fee. So, use the free version if you only need a few searches.
Here’s how to use it:
- Take a screenshot of the video clip you want to search for. You can also use a sitemap if you’re tech-savvy.
- Go to Berify.com.
- Upload the screenshot to the search box that says Browse and upload the image here.
- Click Search.
- Berify will surface any results that match your search.
Using Bing
Like Google, Bing’s reverse video search function works best with an image screenshot. Running a reverse video search on Bing is simple:
- Take a screenshot of the video clip you want to search for.
- Open Bing’s Visual Search page.
- Upload the screenshot or paste the URL of the image or video in the search box.
- Bing will produce results for “related content” that closely matches the image or video.
Conducting a Reverse Video Search Is Simple but Time-Consuming
Video is an excellent addition to many marketing campaigns, web content, social media strategy, and more. Use reverse video search to find, verify, and brainstorm ideas for more videos. That said, it’s just one more thing to take time away from your core business – whatever good or service you provide. That’s why so many companies turn to us at SEO Design Chicago to monitor their website and social media traffic, dig deep into how people are finding your site, manage your online reputation, and create content.
Our content creation services include:
- Making and editing videos
- Shooting and properly tagging images for your website
- Listing your videos and images in Google’s shopping tools
- Writing and adding images and videos to blog posts
Obviously, we’re biased but we’re sure that we’re one of the best web development and content creation companies out there. You can find out why on our blog or check out the case studies on our website.
FAQ:
- How popular is video content?
- What is a reverse video search?
- Why should I do a reverse video search?
- What tools can I use to do a reverse video search?
- How do I do a reverse video search on Bing?
Contact Us Today!