It seems like every other video a friend sends me is hosted on a new website, so I decided to try and figure out what the top video destinations were. Obviously, we all know that YouTube is the top dog but what about the rest? Here’s what I found, I would love to hear any others you enjoy or know about too.

1, YouTube.com
Everyone knows the name from years of watching funny videos or even sharing your own. Aside from having an Alexa rank of the #3 most visited website on the Internet it’s so popular that the name has started to turn into a verb, sort of like Google. “Did you see that new commercial? YouTube it”.

2. MegaVideo.com
If you’re anything like me you’re wondering why in the heck this would be the second site listed. However, you’ll be amazed to know that it outranks any of the subsequent video sites in Alexa, coming in at a strong #86 of overall traffic rank. Calm down though, you’re not totally losing your mind. In fact, there are 22 countries listed ahead of the US in popularity. Heck, if Algeria thinks it’s a good website why shouldn’t we?

3. Yahoo! Video
This one is tough to gauge based on the traffic rank because it’s bundled into the overall Yahoo! position. However, it’s easy to see why this is such an important site because of who is making it. Yahoo! has developed it’s brand as the leading entertainment news provider. That’s right, no news here folks… just entertainment. Just look at one of today’s top headlines, “Most-played musical artist of the decade” or another “Fate of record-setting hailstone” which leads directly to a video. One could argue that they should be the #2 but don’t forget the power of Algeria.

4. DailyMotion.com
Those Algerians are serious video watchers but their efforts seem like a single rain drop in the Pacific Northwest (because it rains a lot, let me tell you) when compared to France. The 14th most visited website in France has actually dropped a considerable amount of traffic in the last few months. Do them a favor and check out the site, oui oui!

5. Vimeo
Finally back to something I’m familiar with, and apparently other American’s too… Vimeo.com. In the past two years it’s traffic has sky-rocketed and seems to be pretty popular in the US. It’s ranking as the #110 most visited site, here in the states, seems to be a temporary move as it climbs higher and higher. Not bad for a website started less than 6 years ago, huh?

6. Hulu.com
I remember when Hulu.com was just a rumor, and how the media giants were moron’s for trying to compete with YouTube instead of just embracing them. After only three years, NBC is the one laughing now. Although you can’t upload your own video’s, Hulu is a great place to catch up on TV shows you missed or would love to watch again. It’s incredible interface makes it easy to use and variety of shows keeps you coming back. As the #41 most visited site on the Internet, Hulu could have been ranked higher. But dude, you can’t upload you cute doggie videos!

7. MySpace TV
Like the super social network, this site is slowly dying. They were too little, too late. Nevertheless, it’s hard to ignore the fact that they are still one of the most visited sites in the world. Of course, I only go there to delete SPAM that seems to fill my inbox. With MySpace trying to embrace a video platform one should wonder why Facebook doesn’t do more… hmmmm.

8. Veoh.com
If you took the acceleration value for gravity and applied it to Veoh.com you might understand what’s happened to it’s visitors. With an estimated 9.81 dropped visitors/second this one time huge hit in Japan might need to shake things up a little. Seriously, you’re missing a huge demographic in Algeria.

9. Metacafe.com
Like the little engine that could, I keep seeing this site bubble up but not quite able to play with the big boys. According to Alexa, this site is mostly popular in the middle-east and CLEARLY embracing the now renown video hunger of Algeria (OK, last time I’ll mention that). As the #204 most visited site on the Internet it might be worth checking out, it’s not too shabby.

10. Google Video
I’d be a boob if I didn’t mention Google Video. However, I’m still confused why it exists after they bought YouTube. At one point I read that they stopped support for it, yet every now and then I hear some pretty cool things they are doing with the videos. Obviously, it’s search related but that’s probably the EXACT thing we need to help us filter through all those damn doggie videos. Just kidding dad, love your doggie videos!

alexa · dailymotion.com · google · google video · hulu · internet · megavideo.com · metacafe · myspace tv · tv · veoh · video · vimeo · yahoo! video · youtube

It has been suggested that perhaps Google is only a catchy name and not much else. That’s a pretty bold statement for a company that’s got a market cap of over $230 BILLION. To take a closer look at this analysis it’s going to be required that you ignore lots of facts and focus mostly on the branding of Google.

Say you were to stumble onto the Google “Labs” page and notice that they have 31 products in the hopper and constantly being upgraded. Ignore that for now. You would have to look past the fact that ONE of those products listed is actually an entire online suite that competes directly with Microsoft’s Office. Please plug your ears to it’s pricing, which is free. A wondering eye might also have to stop itself from noticing that several cool parts of Google aren’t even listed in “Labs” like their Adsense, Analytics and recently announced Android efforts. Just pretend you never heard of a patent listing longer than Moby Dick. Now that we’re in a state of oblivion we can move on.

The name Google has become a household word (who knows why, remember we’re oblivious). Searching for something on the Internet is commonly said “to Google“. But can the name itself be a branding tool? If you were looking for a Honda you might be surprised to see a Google-branded page for used Honda’s. You can check it out here. Indeed Google is a great brand and a catchy name, even listed as the top brand by Millward Brown for 2007. GE, Microsoft and Coca Cola are all eating Google dust.

Google is a catchy name but that’s not all it is. Google makes great products, and lots of them. That’s how they created the brand. Yahoo was already the leader in Search but Google made a product better than anyone else. They continue to push the envelope and have now become the Internet standard for what companies should do on the web. Anyone who believes that Google is just a catchy name should hope to achieve such success. Try not to turn a blind eye to the reality though, Google is walking the walk and the talk is doing their mediocre best to catch up.

HookorSink.com talks about Google’s marketing a lot so it’s no surprise that this article concludes with another “Hook” rating for the “Catchy Name” company.

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The Internet is about to go through it’s next phase of evolution; networking meet mobile. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google’s long awaited secret project for it’s Google Phone will be made public today. Here’s how today will mark the transition to Web 3.0, mobile Internet.

The popularity of cell phones has exploded in the last several years, just take a look at everyone on the freeway to see how common they are. Smartphones certainly took cellular communication to the next level and Apple gave it a pretty case when it launched the iPhone. The media darling does just about the same thing a lot of other phones do but with a much cooler interface. Revolutionary, hardly. At least until the Google Phone launches.

What we know about phones is about to get turned on its head. Google believes that consumers shouldn’t have to pay for their phone. That’s not a typo, Google started their project with the intention of giving it away for free and earning money through their ace-in-the-back-pocket advertising. This new phone is based on a premise that makes Apple and Microsoft shiver at night, “Open”. It’s believed that Google will announce their new phones capabilities but not be talking about a cool zooming feature, rather the ability for 3rd party software makers to write programs until their hearts are content.

There’s no need to worry about being compatible with Microsoft Office because Google already has an online version that is free. No kidding folks, free software and free phones. It’s hard to imagine that a company would have the brass…. bank accounts to think about doing something like this but Google does. In fact, their focus on advertising has rocked the Internet as we know it and left no one behind. The theme of repetition is worth it here too, the premier Internet company will be offering free phones with free applications and completely free for 3rd party developers to join in the party.

Still not convinced? “But wait, there’s more”. Xohm, a Sprint company, is believed to be in development with Google. Of course you don’t know who Xohm is. Imagine the difference between your home computer switching from dial-up to broadband and then apply that to a mobile network. Voila, you have Xohm. It’s like this super fast, super cool mobile Internet connection. Unless you’re a nerd and follow this stuff you’d know that all the major players have been fighting for this next generation mobile Internet (AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) and Sprint has come out on top with Xohm.

You think communication is cool now just wait until mid 2008 when Google launches a revolutionary phone (and not revolutionary like the iPhone, with it’s neato zooming capability, like seriously revolutionary) on an entirely different mobile Internet and you’ll see what the next level of the web is going to be, Web 3.0.

No award from HookorSink.com, rather a suggestion. “Hook” or get off the pot.

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It starts with a great product, or many in Google’s case. Then market the heck out of it. So what’s different about that? It’s free, absolutely free* for users. In fact, people who “buy into” using Google products aren’t even called consumers, they’re called users.

Take their SPAM fighting team for the Gmail product, for example. How do you make that an interesting topic worth sharing with users? Google created an informational video with their “Top SPAM fighting engineer” explaining what Gmail does differently to help you. If you aren’t already asleep you’ll have to check it out because it’s actually very entertaining (that’s not a typo). SPAM fighting video.

You’re probably aware of how they make their money, selling ads for other companies products. Hmmm, so they create kick-ass products, have fun marketing them in a way that leverages Web 2.0 and give it all away for free and somehow they expect to make money? Yep, $1.07 billion. For the most recent quarter. Net. All companies should be so lucky. Then again, a lot of companies can’t get past the first requirement in this equation.

“Hook” me up with Google’s marketing tactics, HookorSink.com fully approves.

*No disclosure needed, weird huh?

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The mention of Ashtun Kutcher as a member of a serious business is enough to make anyone cringe, at least anyone who’s familiar with the hit MTV show “Punk’d”. However, the Creative Director for the Telecom startup Ooma may make you take a second look. Ooma may be trying to compete with Vonage but they don’t have the marketing budget to play fair.

Kutcher is responsible for creating a half dozen viral marketing movies that will be responsible for driving traffic to their website and their brand. He’s already prepared a product demo using a child as the spokesperson. Before you click away, it’s actually quite compelling. Check it out.

Ooma hasn’t sold anything yet but their take on the land phone market may be enough to help spread word of mouth. Using a broadband VOIP connection similar to Vonage they are selling unlimited calling for a one time fee. No kidding, monthly fees will be a thing of the past. Buy an Ooma unit for $399 (soon to increase to $599), plug it into your Internet connection and don’t pay for land phone use any more!

In addition to the base unit you can also purchase a “Scout”, or second mini-base, for $39.95. The unique features of this service is like chocolate frosting on a chocolate cake, almost too much. What about checking your voicemail online or… nevermind, take a look for yourself.

And don’t bash Ashtun Kutcher until you see his viral videos. Then feel free. Here’s the very first one launched today (Sep. 20th, 2007).

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Ready for a fierce competition? YouTube.com may be one of the most visited sites right now but what do you think of MySpace TV? They have the audience. But they are pretty much doing the same thing YouTube is doing, only… a few steps later. What about a new site from News Corp. and NBC Media that will offer full-length episodes without infringing on copyrights called Hulu.com! Not bad for companies that are usually competing against themselves!

It’s not available yet but their site claims to be launching a Beta version to users who sign up through Hulu.com sometime in October. While Google scrambles to try and make money from YouTube they may have a bigger battle on their hands when this site launches. It’s got the financial backing of some major players and a name that’s easy to remember. If it provides a unique look at online videos it could very well give YouTube a run for their money.

Jason Kilar is the inaugural CEO and has some impressive experience in establishing innovative companies known to rock the Internet world. Does Amazon.com ring a bell? He was a Senior Vice President there.

Of course there is a lot of theory being thrown around and we won’t know until Hulu.com launches but there is definitely a space for someone with a good niche to step in as a legitimate competitor to YouTube. This will make for great marketing discussion for a long time!

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Online dating services are one of the most heavily scrutinized channels on the Internet and it’s become an all out battle to be on top. True.com recently gave HookorSink.com a few minutes of their time to answer some questions we had about their marketing, business methods and the industry in general.

Known for their sexy online ads, True.com has found many ways to distinguish themselves from the competition through their underlying philosophy of trying to end divorce and innovative use of technology (They currently hold over 25 different trademarks). Love or hate them you’re sure to have an opinion about their approach. Take a second to hear things from their point of view in this un-edited, raw conversation that may have more than one surprise in store:

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