Multiphase flows widely exist in modern industries. The velocity measurement of multiphase flow is the key to ensure safety as well as improve the quality and efficiency of the production processes. Cross-correlation velocimetry is one of the main methods for the velocity measurement of multiphase flows. However, the classical cross-correlation algorithm is difficult to meet the demand of real-time and accuracy due to the complexity of industrial multiphase flows and thus has some limitations in application. In this paper, recent progress of the method is reviewed and the improvements that have been made to the method are elaborated and analyzed in terms of calculation efficiency and accuracy. Evaluation results show that both the adaptive cross-correlation method and the frequency domain method can obtain accurate results with less computational effort. Besides, the frequency domain method can also obtain the most stable measurement results. Based on the state-of-the-art cross-correlation velocimetry, possible future research is discussed for further development of the method.