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Google Tunes Into TV

Google Video Enables Users to Search TV Content From PBS, the NBA, Fox News, C-SPAN, and others

Mountain View, Calif. – January 25, 2005 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced the availability of Google Video, a new service that enables users to search the content of television programs from leading TV content providers including PBS, the NBA, Fox News, and C-SPAN, among others. This announcement demonstrates Google’s commitment to creating innovative technologies that provide access to a greater diversity of the world’s information.

"What Google did for the web, Google Video aims to do for television," said Larry Page, Google co-founder and president of Products. "This preview release demonstrates how searching television can work today. Users can search the content of TV programs for anything, see relevant thumbnails, and discover where and when to watch matching television programs. We are working with content owners to improve this service by providing additional enhancements such as playback."

The Google Video beta (www.google.com/video) enables users to search across the closed captioning content of a growing number of TV programs that Google began indexing in December, 2004. Entering a query such as iPod will return a list of relevant television programs with still images and text excerpts from the exact point in the program where the search phrase was spoken. Google Video offers these additional search features:

  • Preview page: Displays up to five still video images and five short text segments from the closed captioning of each program.
  • Upcoming episodes: Shows when the program will be aired next.
  • Search within the show: Enables searching for specific words within a given program.
  • Program details: Offers program and episode information including channel, date and time.
  • Change location: Finds the next time and channel where a program will air locally according to zip code.

For television channels and content producers, Google Video can increase viewership by providing Google users with information on future airings of relevant programs.

"For more than three decades PBS and local PBS stations have pioneered the use of state-of-the-art technology to use media to inform, engage, entertain, and educate the American public," said Pat Mitchell, President and CEO of PBS. "Today we are proud to join with Google, a company that continues to achieve new levels of technical innovation with the launch of Google Video, a new service that increases the reach and impact of PBS content."

"NBA fans are tech savvy early adopters," said NBA Commissioner David Stern. "With our partnership with Google on the pioneering Google Video service, we enhance our ability to meet the needs of NBA fans, delivering to them content and information in a new and innovative way."

This early-stage release of Google Video does not include Google AdWords advertising or playback options. For more information, please visit www.google.com/video.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program, which is the largest and fastest growing in the industry, provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Media Contact:

Nathan Tyler
Google Inc.
+1 650-623-4311
nate@google.com

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