Google Video Enables Users to Search TV Content
From PBS, the NBA, Fox News, C-SPAN, and others
Mountain View, Calif. – January 25, 2005 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ:
GOOG) today announced the availability of Google Video, a new
service that enables users to search the content of television
programs from leading TV content providers including PBS, the
NBA, Fox News, and C-SPAN, among others. This announcement
demonstrates Google’s commitment to creating innovative
technologies that provide access to a greater diversity of the
world’s information.
“What Google did for the web, Google Video aims to do for
television,” said Larry Page, Google co-founder and president of
Products. “This preview release demonstrates how searching
television can work today. Users can search the content of TV
programs for anything, see relevant thumbnails, and discover
where and when to watch matching television programs. We are
working with content owners to improve this service by providing
additional enhancements such as playback.”
The Google Video beta (http://www.google.com/video) enables
users to search across the closed captioning content of a
growing number of TV programs that Google began indexing in
December, 2004. Entering a query such as [iPod] will return a
list of relevant television programs with still images and text
excerpts from the exact point in the program where the search
phrase was spoken. Google Video offers these additional search
features:
– Preview page: Displays up to five still video images and five
short text segments from the closed captioning of each program.
– Upcoming episodes: Shows when the program will be aired next.
– Search within the show: Enables searching for specific words
within a given program.
– Program details: Offers program and episode information
including channel, date and time.
– Change location: Finds the next time and channel where a
program will air locally according to zip code.
For television channels and content producers, Google Video can
increase viewership by providing Google users with information
on future airings of relevant programs.
“For more than three decades PBS and local PBS stations have
pioneered the use of state-of-the-art technology to use media to
inform, engage, entertain, and educate the American public,”
said Pat Mitchell, President and CEO of PBS. “Today we are proud
to join with Google, a company that continues to achieve new
levels of technical innovation with the launch of Google Video,
a new service that increases the reach and impact of PBS
content.”
“NBA fans are tech savvy early adopters,” said NBA Commissioner
David Stern. “With our partnership with Google on the pioneering
Google Video service, we enhance our ability to meet the needs
of NBA fans, delivering to them content and information in a new
and innovative way.”
This early-stage release of Google Video does not include Google
AdWords advertising or playback options. For more information,
please visit http://www.google.com/video. 