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Google May Want CBS Shows
Red Herring, November 22, 2005

The search giant is in talks with the network behind shows like CSI and Survivor over video content.

Searching for new distribution outlets, television network CBS said Tuesday it is in talks with Google over video search and on-demand video, two areas where the Internet search giant lags behind some of its rivals.

If the two come to an agreement, it could give Google’s video inventory a much-needed boost as Viacom-owned CBS is the home of hit shows like CSI and Survivor.

Leslie Moonves, chairman of CBS, told Reuters his company was talking to Google about a “whole slew of things.”

In September, Google made one of its first moves into video content when it streamed UPN’s show Everybody Loves Chris.

Google also has a program called Google Video that allows users to upload content. But the offering is not impressive when compared to what startups like Blinkx offer, said Gartner analyst Allen Weiner.

“Google is feeling the pressure in this particular space, more than any others, that [it needs to] create an environment for rich media content,” said Mr. Weiner.

And for once, the Internet giants could be feeling pressure from the startups. The young video search business is heating up and a number of companies have jumped into it. Mr. Weiner expects a significant chunk of advertising dollars will move into video search within the next two years.

Google hasn’t offered any signs of how it will make money from its foray into video. While it currently doesn’t run any ads in its video program, that doesn’t mean it never will.

The Mountain View, California-based company could potentially also offer content downloads akin to what Apple Computer offers through its iTunes Music Store. iTunes has recently allowed users to download select shows from ABC including Desperate Housewives for $1.99 per clip (see Apple: 1M Videos in 20 Days).

But before Google figures out how to monetize such an offering, it needs to gather multimedia content, said analysts.

“These are all significant issues—this is becoming an amazingly hot space,” said Mr. Weiner. “This is driven by the fact that TV networks realize that the Internet is emerging as a powerful distribution medium.”

Ask Jeeves Moves Ahead

Ask Jeeves, the fifth-most-popular search engine in the United States with 6.4 percent of the search market, according to comScore Media Metrix, has obviously realized the importance of adding multimedia search capabilities to its site. The Oakland, California-based unit of IAC/InterActive said Tuesday it was partnering with GoFish, which lets users search for audio and video content on the Net and then download it. Unlike its rivals Yahoo and Google, Ask Jeeves does not have any video searching capabilities.

Through this distribution arrangement, Ask Jeeves has another carrot for retaining users, while San Francisco-based GoFish gets traffic. The two-year-old startup primarily plans to expand through licensing and distribution deals like the Ask Jeeves deal. Even though the bigger search companies are making inroads into video search, CEO Michael Downing says that doesn’t mean they get it.

“With the exception of Yahoo, everybody is still evaluating what they’re doing here and what is the best solution,” said Mr. Downing. “Much of what is happening is pretty experimental.”

He pointed out that Yahoo was ahead of the curve, only because it viewed content as a big part of its business. But even that vision wasn’t enough, given the different types of multimedia content that exist on the web.

“[Search] has to be comprehensive—it can’t be as simple as a video crawler,” said Mr. Downing. “Multimedia search is where web search is where it was in late ‘94. Most of the offerings out there, especially on the video search side, are very primitive.”

And as this search evolves and merges into mainstream search, it will give advertisers the platform they had with television, but with the reach of the Internet. As for the search giants, they hope to see the growth in the technology reflected in their bottom line.

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