Following a series of lukewarm to mediocre reviews of its much-hyped new video store, Google has admitted to botching the product's launch. "We made a big mistake," said Marissa Mayer, Google's vice
president of search products. Among other things, Mayer said big-name shows like "CSI" and "Survivor" that were for sale at launch were not promoted well. Consumers instead had to search for these
shows using an engine that's far inferior to Google's Web search, according to various reports. In fact, the video service so far has "fallen far short" of Apple's iTunes, the digital media delivery
ringleader, said one analyst. David Pogue, the
New York Times tech writer, last week called Google Video an "appallingly half baked" site that " doesn't live up to Google's usual standards of
excellence." This is reflected in the numbers, too. In December, iTunes attracted 20.7 million visitors, to Google's barely 3 million, according to data from Nielsen/NetRatings. On Jan. 18, Apple
reached its first video milestone: 8 million video downloads since it started offering TV and video programs three months ago.
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