How to Track Your Video Content Across the Web Using Reverse Video Search

Worried that someone might be using your videos (without your consent) to gain views and followers?

If that’s the case, it has become more important than ever to keep track of your videos across the web and social media. Because you don’t know when and where someone uses your video to fraud people online.

The easiest way to monitor where your videos appear is through reverse video search. This method helps you find copies, reposts, and similar versions of your videos across websites and social media platforms.

This article demystifies how you can perform reverse video search online and keep track of your videos.

Why Tracking Your Video Content Matters

1. Detect Unauthorized Reuploads 

If you are posting videos publicly, there is a high risk that people might use them without your consent. In that case, keeping track of your video content can help you discover unauthorized reuploads of your personal videos online.

2. Discover Where Your Videos Are Going Viral

Keeping track of your videos also helps you identify where your videos have gained good views. You can then comment on the video, requesting the owner to give you credit for the clip they have utilized.

3. Monitor Brand Reputation

Brands are very cautious about their reputation, and by chance, if random people try to use their videos for unethical purposes, it can negatively impact their credibility. So, keeping track of their videos can help them find people who are using their videos without giving credit and take immediate action.

What is Reverse Video Search?

Reverse video search (RVS) is a technique that is used to discover similar videos online by analyzing visual frames, screenshots, or clips from a video. It is basically used to keep track of your videos that have been reposted without proper credit. Influencers, content creators, journalists, students, and many other people can benefit from reverse video search and find unauthorized reposts across the web and social media.

How Reverse Video Search Helps Track Your Videos

Let’s learn about how the video reverse search can assist in keeping track of your videos:

• With reverse video search, you can easily find reuploads of your videos across the web and social media.

• If someone has cropped your video and reuploaded it, then the reverse video lookup approach can also help detect such edited reposts.

• You can also find and verify the real owner of a popular video and see other people using that same clip.

• Reverse video search can discover identical results across different search engines, social media, and video-sharing platforms. 

• Keep track of your viral video content with reverse video search and discover noncredit reposts online.

Step-by-Step Guide to Tracking Your Videos Online

Here’s a complete guide on how you can track videos on the internet with ease.

Step 1: Get the Original Video

Make sure you have the high-quality video to find its unlicensed reposts across websites. With clear details in the video, it would be easier to find similar versions online in seconds.

Step 2: Extract Key Frames

For manual video finding, extract main frames from the clip. You can take screenshots of those frames and perform a reverse search on them using Google Lens or any image search tool.

Step 3: Run Reverse Video Searches

You can also do a reverse video search using an online tool. You don’t have to extract key frames, as the tool will automatically do that and find identical matches. Some free options worth considering are:

• Revideo.io

• Google Lens

• Bing Visual Search

• Yandex Images

Step 4: Investigate Matching Results

Now that you have got the results, look for the exact reuploads, videos that are altered a little, cropped to hide the watermark, or mirrored. If you see any of these videos, then you can ask the uploader to give you credit, or else you will file a DMCA complaint against them.

Step 5: Document Findings

Lastly, create a Google Spreadsheet of all your videos, so that you can easily keep track of your videos online. You can add columns like URL, platform, date found, credits given, and action required. 

• In the ‘URL’ column, paste the repost video URL.

• In the ‘Platform’ column, mention where that video is uploaded: Instagram, Facebook, or website.

• In the ‘Date’ column, write the date when that video was reposted.

• In the ‘Credits’ column, checkmark those videos that have given you credit.

• Lastly, in the “Actions” column, you can highlight certain profiles that haven’t given you credit, so you can take action against them.

Methods to Perform Reverse Video Search Online

Most search engines or social platforms do not allow users to perform reverse video search directly. It can be because of inaccuracy and low-quality results. So, here are some reliable and effective methods that a person can use to perform reverse video search across the web.

Frame-by-Frame Analysis

A manual procedure to reverse search a video online is by extracting its key frames and checking them against different platforms. The frames act as a fingerprint from your video that you can upload to any reverse image search tool to discover similar outcomes.

Always capture the frame that shows people's faces, a clear background, and objects. And make sure the screenshot you take is not blurred or distorted. You can then upload each screenshot into Google Lens or a dedicated reverse image search tool to locate closely related copies of your video across the web.

Search Using Reverse Video Search Tool

One of the easiest and most reliable approaches to find a similar video online is by using a reverse video search tool. It analyzes visual elements from video frames and compares them against large databases of indexed content.

A reverse video search tool can help you:

• Discover identical video uploads

• Find unauthorized reposts

• Identify the original source of a video

• Track content usage across websites

To use an online tool, you just have to upload your video or provide its URL (if the platform supports it). The tool will extract main scenes from the video and then scan the indexed database to find any identical results. Make sure the video you upload isn’t cropped or recorded with another mobile, because it could deliver wrong results.

Search Video by Keyword

You can also search for your video by typing a relevant keyword on a search engine or social platform to find any unidentified reposts. The keyword approach will find all the matching results so you can see any unlicensed copies of your content.

To do a keyword search, you can type the complete title of the video, a specific keyword, a hashtag, or search by including the social profile name. An example of how to find a video with a keyword would be “Massive Yellow Truck on Highway – the highway cruise." You can search these types of keywords on search engines like Google, Yandex, or Bing, and social platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, Vimeo, or Reddit.

Best Reverse Video Search Tools for Content Tracking 

There are several tools available that can help you track your video across websites and platforms. Here’s a list of them:

Revideo

Revideo is an advanced reverse video search engine that offers completely free usage to help users find unauthorized use of their videos across the web. It extracts main scenes from uploaded videos and then matches them with indexed videos to find similar results. Revideo does not have any premium plan, and you can perform unlimited reverse searches with this tool.

Pros:

• Accepts different video file formats.

• Cross-check the video on different platforms.

• No usage cost or limited credits.

• 100% safe and secure usage.

• Quick and accurate results.

Cons:

• Long videos take a long time to process.

• No bulk search option

Google Images 

It’s primarily a reverse image search tool that people can use to find similar pictures online. But if you need to find where your videos are being used without your permission, you can take a screenshot of the scene and run it through Google Images. It will search through Google's visual database and find exact matches.

Pros: 

• Works on any device you own.

• Process and find identical matches instantly.

Cons:

• Limited to Google-indexed database.

• Only works for images.

TinEye

TinEye is a powerful tool that can be used to perform a reverse image search online. It works similar to Google Images, where you upload the picture, and it finds identical results online. 

Pros:

• User-friendly interface.

• Fast and accurate results.

• Free version available.

Cons: 

• Only accepts images.

• Paid version is costly.

Berify Reverse Video Search

Berify is a freemium reverse video search that offers limited usage in its free version. It offers fast and accurate results but requires a premium subscription to show all matching results.

Pros:

• Works seamlessly on all devices.

• Multiple options to upload the video.

• Scan through multiple platforms in seconds.

Cons:

• Sign-up is required.

• The majority of features are available in premium.

What to Do If You Find an Unauthorized Copy of Your Video

Follow these steps if you have discovered someone is using your video content without your permission:

1. Contact the Uploader: If the video is on a website, find the admin email and message them. But if it’s on a social profile, drop them a message.

2. Request Attribution: In the message, politely ask them to give you credit for using your video online.

3. Report the Content: If they don’t give importance to your request, then you can report the content as “Intellectual Property Violation” or “Copyright.”

4. File a DMCA Notice: Go to dmca.com and file a complaint against the person who is using your video. Provide all the details and the link to the video that belongs to you.

5. Continue Monitoring: It will take up to 7 business days to takedown the video. Once it is done, keep monitoring your video content with reverse video search tools.

Final Thoughts

Since videos can be duplicated and shared in mere minutes, tracking your videos across the internet bears particular importance. Reverse video searches, key frame extractions, and even a simple keyword search can help you find video uploads. Each of these methods has its limitations, but utilizing any of them can help you track your presence on the web and help you make your work a priority.

Frequently Asked Questions