This week in search
For Internet search giants, pictures are worth a thousand words--and hits, they hope.
Google introduced a prototype of a service to search TV programming, an anticipated move to broaden its search franchise for broadcast. The search giant has been quietly developing Google Video, an engine that lets people search the text of TV shows. Immediately, the service will scour programming from PBS, Fox News, C-SPAN, ABC and the NBA, among others, making broadcasts searchable the same day.
People can search on a term--such as "Indonesian tsunami"--to find the TV shows in which it was mentioned, a still image of the video and closed-captioning text of that particular segment of the program.
In another move, Google has hired the lead programmer of the Firefox Web browser, the newest step in the search engine powerhouse's encroachment on Microsoft's turf. Ben Goodger announced on his blog that he took a job with Google on Jan. 10.
The move is the latest of several fueling speculation that Google plans its own Web browser. Despite no longer being employed by the Mozilla Foundation, "my role with Firefox and the Mozilla project will remain largely unchanged," Goodger said on his blog.
Amazon.com is incorporating digital photography while mapping the streets of the United States in an ambitious project to drive people into local businesses. The online retailer's search unit, A9.com, is masterminding the project, which will eventually pair digital photos of storefronts and their surroundings with more than 14 million U.S. business listings from around the country.
People can call up a business listing to find contact information (with an Internet-to-phone dialing service), reviews, a local map and a photo of the business' facade. With a feature called "block view," people can also click to see adjacent businesses or surrounding neighborhoods.
For Yahoo, a move toward pictures means a move to Hollywood. The Web giant has set up stakes in Southern California, forming a media group to house various entertainment properties and to court Hollywood, according to an internal company document.
Yahoo Chief Operating Officer Dan Rosensweig announced to employees in a companywide e-mail the formation of the Yahoo Media Group, which will encompass Yahoo properties including games, news, sports, finance, movies, and music services Launch and Musicmatch. The unit will be run by former ABC television executive Lloyd Braun, who was hired by Yahoo in November.
The move reinforces Yahoo's ambitions to be an Internet entertainment powerhouse. Since 2001, when the company hired former Warner Bros. Chief Terry Semel as CEO, it has transformed itself from a weathered dot-com into a major digital media player, with strong ties to movie marketers, content producers and Madison Avenue.