Hulu today added a smart feature to its embedded videos: video search:

We’ve just released a new feature that lets you search for videos from Hulu players that are embedded on blogs, social networking sites and similar pages on the Web. Your search results will appear directly in the Hulu video screen, and you don’t have to leave the player to watch the Hulu video of your choice. If your search results include videos that aren’t on Hulu, the link goes directly to that video’s page.

We’ve embedded an example above.

Let’s say you’re not interested in the iPhone Update skit – what you really want to see is Laser Cats!

Just type your search in, and you can watch Laser Cats within the embed. 

Some videos will open up in a new window, though. For example, if you search for “Lost season 4″, Hulu will return Lost episodes within the embed, but they’ll open up in a window at the ABC site. 

It’s a useful new feature and well implemented.

We’d still like Hulu to fix it’s terrible ad insertion technology, though. All those ads for feminine products have really put me off using the site. They could at least have a thumbs up/thumbs down vote on their ads, so that they wouldn’t keep showing you ads that drive you crazy.