Google TV..what next??
Google is well-known for starting all kinds of projects, some of which, like Google Earth, turn out to be incredibly useful, while others, like Google Video, stumble out of the gate. The company's executives take a light-hearted approach to their blue-sky ambitions, even showing off whiteboard scribbles of "Google moon bases" and "Google space elevators" in a recent Time magazine interview.
However, behind the humor is a real push at Google to find a business, other than search engine advertising, that generates significant amounts of revenue. This frantic search is driven by the need to keep Google's stock price at or above current levels. The latest rumor involves the possibility of Google TV, a project that could involve the search engine company getting into television advertising, or even a full-blown Google interactive TV service.
The rumors started when Google posted job ads for "an Interactive TV Product Manager in Mountain View, as well as Software Engineers with experience in 'emerging TV standards' and 'deploying robust, high-volume applications for consumer devices'" in both their Mountain View and London offices.
While Google denies that they are working on a television project, the company is definitely interested in expanding out of Internet advertising into more traditional markets. So far, their efforts have met with limited success. Google attempted to sell advertising in magazines, but after six months the results were incredibly lackluster, with 8 out of 10 participating advertisers saying they probably wouldn't buy print ads through Google again.
Google has already branched out into the world of video, and even put a toe into the waters of broadcasting by hosting an episode of Everybody Hates Chris. (Ironically, I was unable to view that episode online at the time due to unknown technical problems, but fortunately my Media Center PC caught it and recorded it for me a few days later). Could Google be interested in becoming a sort of "online DVR"? If the quality of the Google Video service is anything to go by, it would have a hard time competing with MCE PCs and other hardware-based DVR products.
"Googlespotting" may be a pleasant pastime, but there is always the danger of rampant speculation. The company is clearly trying its hand at a large number of projects, however, and at least some of them are bound to see the light of day. Aside from looking for an "Interactive TV Product Manager," the company has posted a bevy of engineering positions for mobile application developers. If Google isn't coming to your TV set, perhaps it's already on the way to your cell phone.
However, behind the humor is a real push at Google to find a business, other than search engine advertising, that generates significant amounts of revenue. This frantic search is driven by the need to keep Google's stock price at or above current levels. The latest rumor involves the possibility of Google TV, a project that could involve the search engine company getting into television advertising, or even a full-blown Google interactive TV service.
The rumors started when Google posted job ads for "an Interactive TV Product Manager in Mountain View, as well as Software Engineers with experience in 'emerging TV standards' and 'deploying robust, high-volume applications for consumer devices'" in both their Mountain View and London offices.
While Google denies that they are working on a television project, the company is definitely interested in expanding out of Internet advertising into more traditional markets. So far, their efforts have met with limited success. Google attempted to sell advertising in magazines, but after six months the results were incredibly lackluster, with 8 out of 10 participating advertisers saying they probably wouldn't buy print ads through Google again.
Google has already branched out into the world of video, and even put a toe into the waters of broadcasting by hosting an episode of Everybody Hates Chris. (Ironically, I was unable to view that episode online at the time due to unknown technical problems, but fortunately my Media Center PC caught it and recorded it for me a few days later). Could Google be interested in becoming a sort of "online DVR"? If the quality of the Google Video service is anything to go by, it would have a hard time competing with MCE PCs and other hardware-based DVR products.
"Googlespotting" may be a pleasant pastime, but there is always the danger of rampant speculation. The company is clearly trying its hand at a large number of projects, however, and at least some of them are bound to see the light of day. Aside from looking for an "Interactive TV Product Manager," the company has posted a bevy of engineering positions for mobile application developers. If Google isn't coming to your TV set, perhaps it's already on the way to your cell phone.
