Google, Dish Network test TV search service

Internet search engine giant Google is testing a new TV-programming search service with satellite television operator Dish Network Corp, a move that would allow users to find content from television and the web.

Attributing to people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported Google is testing a new TV programming search service with Dish Network Corp.

The report said the service, which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service as well as video from web sites like Google's YouTube.

It also allow users to personalize the line-up of shows. With this, Google moves deeper into a crowded field of companies, large and small, that have been trying for years to marry the web and TV and their business models-from rivals Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc to the makers of TV and set-top boxes.

According to the publication, both companies declined to comment on the plan. In addition to the test with Dish, Google has been talking to a range of other television service providers and hardware makers, prodding them to use its Android-based technologies to offer a broader range of programming, a more personal experience and ads, it added.