Compared with the search for video, Web-searching is a day at the beach. Because the Web is an already established medium, finding new ways to plumb it requires writing new algorithms, for the most part. Not so with TV content, since plaing that content online is still a novelty, and business models for the Web as an entertainment platform are still nascent. Stafanie Olsen's research piece about video search sketches the emerging plans of Google and Yahoo! to offer consumer search of video content. Yahoo! seems to be targeting video content already online, while Google seems to be taking the deeper approach of working with content companies to cultivate online business models.

"Google's trying to bring TV to the Web the same way they're bringing books to the Web," according to a media executive who asked to remain anonymous.

But neither company is commenting on any of this, so speculation and anonymous sources rule at this point.