When it comes to video, YouTube wants it all. But if the Google-owned company can't get users to upload videos directly to YouTube, it will likely be able to get them to host their videos there by opening its API.

According to a Reuters report, an open API from YouTube will provide users with widespread access to the company's video library. Where in the past, users could simply embed the YouTube player on any website, the new program allows legions of users to essentially create their own YouTube.

For Google, an even more ubiquitous YouTube essentially brings about what the company had hoped to accomplish with Google Video -- namely the ability to index all of the web's video.

"YouTube is gradually replacing Google Video -- that is where most people upload videos anyway -- but getting as much video from the rest of the web onto its servers allows it to do many more things with it than if it simply indexed the videos elsewhere," TechCrunch blogger Erik Schonfeld wrote. "It can search them better and throw up ads against them."

The announcement comes a day after Hulu, the joint venture from News Corp. and NBCU, announced that it would leave beta testing. While YouTube remains the dominant video destination, Hulu, which has all but two networks in its fold, is aiming to knock YouTube and Google out of the professional video space.