May 30, 2006

Rumor has it that Google wants to build a TV-version of its search engine. Google believes this would rival traditional TV broadcasting.

In fact, Chief executive Eric Schmidt told the media over the weekend: “At the most, people currently have access to only 500 (or thereabout) TV channels,” said Schmidt. “They should have access to everything! That is where Google is heading.”

As they start preparing to make the transition from the PC to the television, ISPs (Internet service providers) and broadcasters alike are combining their efforts in developing electronic program guides (EPGs) that would enable viewers with a broadband Internet connection to choose from a far wider range of video and film entertainment than is currently available.

And of course, Google seriously believes it can offer a world-­beating EPG.

“You have to look at what an electronic program guide is. It is just a search engine and that is what Google does best,” said Schmidt.

Some ISPs such as British Telecom intend to limit viewing choice to content suppliers they have selected. But IT giants such as Microsoft and Intel are determined to harness the full power of the Internet with its virtually unlimited choice into every TV and into every household.

Connecting a Microsoft Media Center player or an X-Box console will enable consumers to use a digital TV to browse the Internet for whatever video content they wish.

This will enable viewers to use Google to realise Schmidt’s vision of allowing viewers to use a television-enabled Google search engine to watch any film or programme they want via the internet.

There has been industry scepticism as to whether the internet will be able to sustain the volume of data needed to allow television audiences to stream live video into their living rooms en masse. But Page, currently president of Google products, told The Business: “People are inventive and the history of the internet proves that it can be adapted to carry whatever level of data is required.”

Page is involved in a project being carried out in Google’s US research and development labs that will revolutionise television advertising. Paid search, the paid ad links that appear to the right of all Google searches, is the revenue generator that made Google the fastest growing company on Nadsaq.

Google’s co-founder Larry Page believes that if the company is to continue to be successful in the era of internet television, it must develop a new form of paid search. Schmidt admitted to The Business that the company has yet to develop the right format but added that Page is trialling new prototypes on an almost weekly basis.

Microsoft is this weekend denying a story that appeared in the New York Post that is has been in discussions to buy online auctioneer eBay. A Microsoft spokeswoman told The Business: “There is no foundation to this story.” Last month Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer denied rumours that Microsoft was teaming up with eBay to take on search giant Google.

Source: The Business Online.com