Google Tests TV Search Service
Google Inc. (GOOG) is testing a new television-programming search service with DISH Network Corp. (DISH), according to people familiar with the matter, the latest development in a fast-moving race to combine Internet content with conventional TV.
The service, which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service as well as video from Web sites like Google’s YouTube, according to these people. It also lets users to personalize a lineup of shows, these people said.
With the test, Google moves deeper into a crowded field of companies, large and small, that have been trying for years to marry the Web and TV and their business models–from rivals Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) to the manufacturers of televisions and set-top boxes.
