Virage Inc. will incorporate Verity Inc.'s K2 Developer search technology in a new version of its video content server to be released next month. That will let Virage customers search video archives in multiple languages and simultaneously search other media formats and document types.

Anne Brody, senior product manager for Virage, says the Verity technology will let customers search for video in most European languages, as well as Chinese and Japanese. The search tools accommodate Boolean and synonym searches and account for typos. Verity's deep integration and scalability, Brody says, will allow Virage to support larger video-content-management installations.

Gartner analyst Whit Andrews says Virage must continue expanding its capabilities to maintain momentum in a very tight vertical niche. Establishing compatibility with Verity's customer base should mean additional sales, he says. Meanwhile, Andrews says, Verity's ability to spider multimedia databases has been limited, but by working with Virage customers, it should develop expertise in that area.

However, Andrews says, the relationship puts pressure on Virage to capitalize on access to Verity customers. If during the next two years more companies are integrating video search capabilities into their content-management systems, Andrews expects Virage and Verity to deepen their ties. But if the demand doesn't increase, it will call into question Virage's viability. Says Andrews, "If they can't sign up Verity customers, they've got a problem."