April 05, 2010, 10:24 AM — Google has made its fifth acquisition of the year: video service Episodic, which is presumably being drafted to help out with the Google-owned Youtube video service.
Episodic, a San Francisco-based start-up founded by Noam Lovinsky and Matias Cudich, describes itself as a "comprehensive platform for broadcasting live and on-demand video to the web or any web-enabled device." Episodic announced the acquisition in a blog post Friday.
Episodic is an online video hosting service and publishing suite, and features the capability to publish live streams and on-demand content. Users also have control over advertisements and ad breaks in their videos, as well as an in-depth analytics tool that gives them real-time information on viewers' experiences.
Episodic also allows users to make money off of their video channels by inserting advertisements or charging viewers for content (via credit card). These options are available for both live streams and on-demand video. Episodic is also optimized for viewing on mobile devices, including the iPhone.
For the time being, new account sign-up has been put on hold, though users can register to be contacted once the acquisition has been sorted out.
According to Tech Crunch, the service will, in fact, be "folded into Youtube" and the Episodic staff will join the Youtube offices next week.
This either means that Google plans on taking over and redoing online video, or that Google is just looking to keep to its promise to buy one small company each month. Since January 2010, Google has bought Microsoft Word online component DocVerse, photo-editing site Picnik, email app maker reMail, and social search company Aardvark.
