• The Wall Street Journal et al., Tuesday, March 9, 2010 11:09 AM

Further blurring the line between TV and online content, Google is quietly testing a TV search service in partnership with satellite TV provider Dish Network.

Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal says the service, "which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service and video from Web sites like Google's YouTube," as well as "personalize a lineup of shows."

"The idea is that Google will be able to make a better user interface for TV searches than service providers like Dish Networks can make themselves (probably true)," writes Business Insider. "Google may also be able to hook up its TV ad business to the service, too."

"Linking Web content and traditional TV programming into a searchable database for viewing is a smart idea," says ZDNet's Between The Lines. "What's also interesting is Google's use of the Android OS as the backbone technology for the set-top box ... The operating system has largely been talked about in the form of netbooks -- but there's no reason that it couldn't power something like a set-top box."

"Potential hurdles could include the necessity of new set-top boxes -- something households and service providers rarely upgrade -- and service providers' reluctance to share any more information with Google than they already do," notes Business Insider.

Also, "Google will have formidable competition on its hands from the likes of Clicker, a service seeking to identify, categorize and make discoverable the ocean of video and digital entertainment online and off," writes Search Engine Land's Greg Sterling.

For context, Sterling also references a recent survey of US new TV buyers from iSuppli, which found that 27% of TVs were connected to the internet.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal et al. »