Google Goes Hollywood (?)

Lots of unnamed sources in this story, headlined Google Readying Web-Only Video Search. So who knows about their cred...

But it sounds as though Google may be in the midst of creating what I think of as a content marketplace - a trove of video offered up for sale. (This as opposed to the established Google search model, of simply pointing to video that sits on other sites.)

"Google is talking to several top-tier content providers, including Hollywood movie studios, to gain agreements for aggregating their video and selling premium or pay-per-view access," Stefanie Olsen writes.

But later, she adds a caveat, writing, "For studios such as Sony Pictures, working with Google Video could be tricky. Studios must get permission from actors and various guilds to show clips of films for promotional purposes. Even then, the amount of material shown is restricted. It would likely be a long time before Google could secure searchable content from major film studios, but several sources have said that the company's executives have approached the film studios to seek approvals."

I think we'll be seeing shows produced for television, and indie videos, long before we see full-length theatrical features on Google.