Google In Portal Deal with BSkyB
Google is lending its video, search and communications tools to a co-branded portal for Sky Broadband customers.
Google and British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) have teamed up to develop a co-branded portal for BSkyB’s broadband Internet subscribers.
Google will provide video, e-mail and communications, and search tools to Sky Broadband subscribers. Yahoo has had a similar deal with British Telecom since 2003, where it provides search and communications services to BT’s broadband customers.
Financial terms of the agreements have not been disclosed.
Google and BSkyB will share in the revenue generated by paid search ads, and explore potential rev-share deals on mobile and TV advertising. Google is currently testing mobile ads in the UK, but has not talked about any plans to enter the TV ad space.
The user-generated video portal will be powered by the technology behind Google Video, but will be customized for BSkyB. It will provide users with tools to edit, upload and share video content, including the ability to upload from a mobile phone. The video portal will be part of a content-rich experience BSkyB is building for its broadband subscribers.
For communications tools, Google will provide a Sky-branded version of Google Mail, as well as instant messaging, calendar and contacts functions. Google and BSkyB will explore future offerings of Google’s VoIP, storage and other products.
