• by Tameka Kee , June 16, 2008

CNN edged out Google as the most popular search source for video news online, according to a new study by Performics. The search marketing division of Google's DoubleClick enlisted eRewards to survey 500 Internet users in a push to uncover emerging video search trends. And some 57% of respondents said that they used CNN.com in their search for video news.

The news network beat Google.com, which was used by 53% of respondents, and trumped rivals MSNBC.com and Foxnews.com, with 41% and 25%, respectively. And while 61% of respondents said that they used core search engines like Yahoo and Ask to find video news at least half of the time, a large majority (77%) said that they also started their search on sites like CNN.com.

Absent from the list in significant percentages were any of the dedicated video search engines like Veoh, Blinkx or even AOL's Truveo (which launched a special election-based video site in January). YouTube, MSN and Yahoo also all rolled out political video properties, but none of the sites have seemed to gain major traction with Americans on the hunt for video--even in the midst of a busy election season.

TV still trumps the Web in terms of video news consumption, although some 76% of respondents said that it was their primary source of video news. A more promising stat showed that about half of all respondents watched an hour or more of video news online each week--and nearly a quarter watched three or more hours weekly.

Dallas-based eRewards surveyed members of its panel of more than 2.5 million households over the course of two days in mid-May. Two-thirds of the respondents were between the ages of 35 and 64, and over a third earned at least $100,000 annually.