‘Google tests search service for TV programs’

Google would develop a search service for television programs together with the American satellite provider Dish Network. The Google software is said to run on the provider’s set-top boxes and also provide access to YouTube.

With Google’s search service, TV viewers can find programs on Dish Network’s various satellite channels via the set-top box, such as writes The Wall Street Journal. Videos on YouTube could also be retrieved via the search engine and users could create a personal viewing profile. Searches can be sent to the set-top box via a wireless keyboard.

Google is said to have started a small-scale trial involving its own employees last year, but the companies do not want to comment on the reports. However, the American business newspaper states that Google has deliberately chosen the Dish Network set-top boxes, because the receivers of the satellite provider can already be found in many living rooms and consumers are hesitant to purchase even more peripherals.

In addition to an agreement with Dish Network, Google would try to persuade TV providers and hardware manufacturers to run set-top boxes and other devices on its Android operating system. Google mainly wants to gain a foothold in the television market to get its personalized ads on the TV screen.

Various different companies in the American TV market have now also united in Canoe Ventures, a platform that also wants to serve customized advertising to the TV viewer. So far, there has probably been little progress in the technical realization of such an advertising platform because much older hardware is not yet able to communicate adequately via the Internet.