Hoping to get a cut of the growing online video pie, CNet Networks announced on Monday that it had upgraded its Webshots photo-sharing service to include video.  The new service, which is sponsored by Intel, allows users to upload videos and share them with friends and family members.

CNet touts the new Webshots as the first photo/video sharing site to combine the two forms of media into one service.  According to a company press release, users can combine video and photos into a single album.  CNet also says it's video viewer is 50 percent larger and has 3 times the bandwidth of other competing services.

In a move to spur interest in its new service, Webshots will soon launch Project Spotlight, a user driven and user supplied video content initiative designed to reward talented up and comers in the video production field.  According to the company memo, more information on Project Spotlight will be available soon.

To meet the challenge of advertising on video, CNet plans to display pre- and post-roll advertisements on video hosted on the main video portal page.  Those ads will not appear on videos viewed from within users albums or slideshows.

If you've been looking for a way to combine photo and video, this could be it.  Webshots will offer users another option for hosting and sharing videos.  It should be interesting to see how their approach works out.  Future plans for a flash-based slideshow player with video capabilities make the future of this service worth following.

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