Google is testing its search software on TV set-top boxes, which as one of the modern replacements for the cable box enables content transmitted from the Internet, according to the Wall Street Journal. The service would let users search their Dish satellite TV service for TV programs and video from Google's own YouTube service. Google has already showed its desire to extend its mobile Web tendrils through the Google Android platform and the resulting Google-sold Nexus One smartphone. An Android set-top box should come as no surprise.
Google and satellite TV provider Dish Network are experimenting with a
service that would enable users to search through programs and Web video on
their televisions, according to the (paywall warning) Wall Street Journal.
The Journal March 8 said Google is testing its search software on TV set-top
boxes, which as one of the modern replacements for the cable box enables
content transmitted from the Internet. Ideally, the service would let users
search their Dish satellite TV service for TV programs and video from Google's
own YouTube service.
It is an old game with a new player. Companies for the last several years
have been working on the convergence of the Web with television, an idea that
is better positioned to grow wings at a time when TV operations and the
equipment that power them are becoming more digital.
The idea is to bring the functionality and efficiency of Web applications,
such as search and other tools, to the more modern TV sector, which is fueled
by satellite options, high-definition programming and personal video recording.
Google declined to comment on the speculation, but the Journal said users
testing the service can search by typing queries on a computer keyboard instead
of the remote control with which couch potatoes have become accustomed.
Google is testing this search service with a "very small number of the
company's employees and their families." The experiment, which began in
2009, could be ended at any time if it's not working out.
Rumors of Google dealing in set-top boxes have been floated for the last
several years and grew strength from comments made by Google CEO
Eric Schmidt in a February 2007 conference call. When asked about the potential
for TV advertising, Schmidt said:
"So, for example, set-top boxes can help you target end users and the
set-top boxes are now IP-addressable. So there's a lot of evidence that as we
link our systems into the systems of people who are operators, we can get
another leg up on targeting and ultimately provide both a more useful
advertising experience for the end user and also a better advertising
experience for the advertiser themselves in terms of conversion."
For those who balk at the thought of Google dabbling in TV search, consider
this: Google is the most powerful Internet advertising player on the planet. TV
is the most powerful ad medium on the planet.
If Google could connect its search service to TV, it could better position
its Google
TV Ads service for revenue growth. TV provides another ad vehicle for the
company, which reaps some $22 billion per year through online ads.
The company could, for example, show ads on TV screens while users are
searching for their favorite programs or YouTube videos. These ads could be
targeted to individual users' viewing preferences.
A Google TV search service shouldn't strike people as surprising.
The company has already showed its desire to extend its mobile Web tendrils
through the Google Android platform and the resulting Google-sold Nexus One smartphone. Google has also suggested Android
would extend to set-top boxes one day.
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