Vimeo redesign focuses on search, size and sharing

The online video sharing service Vimeo has announced its first major redesign since its launch in 2007.

Through what it calls “zillions of improvements,” the company says the revamped website will serve up videos in a larger format and make searching for videos easier and more precise through the use of filters. The company has also built some brains into its platform, designed to suggest “contextually relevant videos” to users based on their browsing history and through tools such as a recommendation engine that suggests videos based on similar videos that other people have liked.

Users will also be able to access as a pull-down video discovery bar on the video page that enables them to explore their feed, recently viewed videos and related videos. They’ll also be able to set videos into a queue to watch later.

Advanced searching tools will allow users to filter for results based on relevancy, length, credits, copyright license, and to browse videos that are subject to Creative Commons licenses. Privacy upgrades allow users to conceal their activities on their profile pages and hide their viewing stats on their video pages and block new Vimeo members from contacting them.

As it always has been, the redesigned site is much cleaner and easier on the eyes than Vimeo’s top competitor, YouTube. And while Vimeo certainly hopes to pull users away from YouTube (and its ubiquitous ads popping up over video feeds), an analyst told the BBC that there’s really no way Vimeo can compete with the Google-owned Goliath. Instead, it should focus on doing what it does best: provide a venue for professional and amateur videographers to display and share their work in a clean, well-lit space. That seems to be the objective with the new look.

Members can sign up to test pilot the new design over the coming weeks. Then, members will have the option to use the new or old design, and then by mid-summer the company expects the transition to be complete.

Here’s a look at the new Vimeo.

Open Your Eyes to the New Vimeo from Vimeo Staff on Vimeo.