Google, Dish Reportedly Test TV Search
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (
) --
(GOOG) - Get Report
is testing a new television programming search service with
Dish Network
(DISH) - Get Report
that runs on TV set-top boxes and contains Google software that allows users to search content from Web videos and personalize a lineup of shows, a report says.
With the move, Google joins rivals
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
and
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
which have been trying for years to strike a cord between the Web and TV, the
Wall Street Journal
reports. Just last week,
TiVo
(TIVO) - Get Report
announced new digital video recorders that blend broadcast and online content, the
Journal
notes.
Google's test, which began last year, is limited to a very small number of the company's employees and their families and could be discontinued at any time, sources told the
Journal
.
Viewers in the Google test can search by typing queries using a keyboard rather than a remote control, the newspaper says.
For Google, which leads the Web search market and the advertising revenue generated by it, the test represents another effort to extend its technology for delivering targeted ads into new fields, as its search business slows down, the
Journal
says.
In addition to the test with Dish, Google has been talking to several other television-service providers and hardware makers, prodding them to use its Android-based technologies to offer a broader range of programming.
Both Google and Dish spokeswomen declined to comment for the
Journal
.
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