Google Television engineering targets mass TV personalization

Television remains the single most important source of information and entertainment for billions of people around the world, so proclaims Google.

Google also aims to “bring Google technology to this vital medium worldwide.”

What TV engineering will Google be “bringing” to the “end-to-end” television broadcast, cable, satellite, and IPTV infrastructure?

Google will be seeking to:

Deploy applications with pay TV or telecommunications partners across the world,

Develop TV set-top box operating systems and middleware solutions,

Enhance user interface for content-rich applications and digital video technology in embedded systems…

Google engineers believe in the power of “mass personalization” applications to combine mass media, such as television, with a highly personalized Web-based experience:

The characteristics of mass media contrast sharply with the World Wide Web. Mass media channels typically provide limited content to many people; the Web provides vast amounts of information, most of interest to few. Mass media channels typically beget passive, largely anonymous consumption, while the Web provides many interactive opportunities like chatting, emailing and trading.

What do Google TV engineers intend to do about it?

Our goal is to combine the best of both worlds: integrating the relaxing and effortless experience of mass media content with the interactive and personalized potential of the Web, providing mass personalization.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is targeting a mass personalization of advertising in his global mission to garner a larger and larger slice of the $800 billion worldwide advertising pie, including a tasty $74 billion worth of television advertising.