Video Search engine Blinkx on Tuesday said it has signed online advertising deals with three TV programmers, including the creator of the popular children's TV show Barney And Friends. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The revenue-sharing deals with HIT Entertainment, Channel 5 Broadcasting in London, and Cheflive involve displaying contextual ads with online video that will be searchable and viewable on Blinkx. In addition, Blinkx signed similar ad deals with Web sites Kitchen Caravan and Savory Cities.

Blinkx, which is powered by Autonomy's Idol software, indexes words and images within video, as well as associated tags. As a result, Blinkx's search functions rival that of YouTube's or Google's own homegrown video search. Google bought YouTube in 2006.

HIT Entertainment offers TV programming in more than 240 countries. Along with the purple dinosaur Barney, HIT also produces Bob The Builder, Thomas And Friends, and Fraggle Rock.

"We are delighted to be working with Blinkx to increase the distribution of our shows worldwide and perfectly complements and supports our digital strategy in reaching a global audience," Ryan Tunstall, IT and operations director for HIT, said in a statement.

Blinkx's deal with Channel 5 is to display ads on highlights from 5 News. The search engine has the same ad arrangement with Las Vegas-based Cheflive, which features cooking tips and tricks from chefs working in the gambling city.

Kitchen Caravan features an online cooking show that highlights foods from around the world, while Savory Cities is an online video restaurant guide featuring profiles on top restaurants in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle.

Blinkx claims to have more than 18 million hours of audio and video content. The publicly traded company made its market debut on the London Stock Exchange in May 2007.