ITV to partner with Google?

July 23rd, 2007

Thought I would join in with the fun being had by other reknowned industry experts such as Andrew Girdwood (from BigMouthMedia), by entering the ‘whose joining forces with who’ debate. According to a report on the Guardian website, ITV is close to signing a deal with Google to provide search services across the ITV.com website.

The deal would see Google replace Yahoo as the preferred search provider once the new website is complete, which has been earmarked as the end of July (a relaunch which is rumoured to be costing around £20 Million and is attempting to monetise the site beyond the traditional display and sponsorship advertising.

The deal is interesting for UK Search Engine Marketing as it could pave the way for further partnerships such as branded channels on Google owned Youtube (similar to the deal between the BBC and Youtube in March)

ITV is in the process of completing a staged rollout of the new ITV.com website, with simulcasts already available, and a 30-day catch up and archive video-streaming service will be activated on a week-by-week basis.

Neither ITV nor Google were available for comment on the potential partnership.

Entry Filed under: SEO Industry