Google video channel debuts
By Michael Liedtke
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Google Inc. unveiled a video-viewing channel on its Internet-leading search engine yesterday, creating another media outlet that may open new money-making opportunities for a company already so profitable its stock has tripled to more than $300 in 10 months.
Watching the amateur and professional videos in Google's index requires free software available at video.google.com. The software, consisting of about 1 megabyte, won't do anything except stream Google's videos through the Internet Explorer or Firefox Web browsers.
The limited scope of Google's viewer means it won't be competing — for now, at least — with the popular multimedia players made by Microsoft Corp. and RealNetworks Inc.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced the video viewer just a few hours before its red-hot stock reached a new closing high. Google's shares ended yesterday's trading session up $6.85, or 2.3 percent, to $304.10 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Yahoo Inc., which runs the Internet's second-most popular search engine behind Google, also indexes videos that can be streamed through the multimedia players made by other companies, including Microsoft and RealNetworks. Some of Yahoo's videos include programming from major television networks.
Google isn't streaming television content, though its index includes the transcripts and still images from a wide range of shows.
The Google viewer will give Web surfers their first chance to sample the material that the search engine has been stockpiling since April. While all the currently available videos are free, Google hopes to eventually charge for some material in partnership with the providers.
Google hasn't set a timetable for introducing the paid videos, said Peter Chane, a senior product manager for the company.
If it charges for some video, Google could lessen its financial dependence on advertising, which has been a source of concern for some analysts. Online advertising, mostly through text-based links, accounted for virtually all of its $369 million profit during the first quarter.
The video viewer could drive even more advertising to Google, said Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li. She believes the new viewing software is designed to build an audience ripe for video advertising.
Neither Google nor Yahoo put ads next to the videos found through their search engines.
