Google launches video search engine for TV shows

Still pictures and transcripts first, video playback 'the next obvious step' says Google

Web search giant Google is bringing television content to users via its video search engine, Google Video.

Google has indexed video and complete transcripts of thousands of TV shows, which users will be able to search using the service. A search for a phrase will return an excerpt of a matching program transcript and a still TV image of exactly when the phrase was spoken, says John Piscitello, a product manager at Google.

Users will be able to search transcripts and view related TV images from content providers including the US Public Broadcasting Service, the National Basketball Association, Fox News Networks LLC and C-SPAN, according to Google. The company started indexing the content of TV shows from Dec. 2004.

The video search engine will open up television content to users, says Google. "The search service offers the ability to discover information that can't be found on the Web," says Piscitello. Google is already making the content of library books available in searchable format on the Web.

The search results also offer further TV programme information, including episodic and channel information and future airings in the local area. "It's a search service that points to relevant TV shows in the local area," Piscitello says.

Based on the transcript search results, users can also view further information about a TV programme. "We show more information from the show on the preview page -- we show five stills and snippets from a show," Piscitello says. The ability to search for specific keywords within a program is also offered by Google Video.

To start off, the service will display still TV images. "Video playback is the obvious next step," Piscitello says, adding that he couldn't comment on the company's plans for Google Video's streaming video capabilities.