Google 'secretly testing new TV search service'

Google and the number two US satellite TV operator Dish Network Corp are jointly testing a television programing search service, it was reported yesterday.

The Wall Street Journal said the service runs on TV set-top boxes which use elements of Google's Android wireless operating system. It allows users to search content from Dish as well as websites such as YouTube, and to personalize the lineup of shows.

More set-top boxes and TV sets with Internet access are becoming available to consumers including a new Web enabled device from TiVo Inc, the set-top box maker. Dish's sister company EchoStar also makes set-top boxes but together with Dish has been caught up in a long and potentially expensive patent dispute with TiVo.

The Journal said Google hopes to link the new service with its fledgling TV ad-brokering business, allowing it to target ads to individual households based on customer data.

A spokeswoman for Dish declined to comment while a spokesperson for Google was not immediately available.