Google offers online videos free of charge

Google Inc., owner of the most-used Internet search engine, hasstarted offering television shows and movies online for free toattract more users and the advertisers seeking to reach them.

The videos, including episodes of "The Charlie Rose Show" andfilms such as "Billy the Kid," are sponsored by advertisers,California-based Google said Friday on its Web site. The videosusually sell for as much as $14.99, Google said.

Google started selling television shows online in January,charging users a fee for each episode. The free videos are displayedalongside a small text ad and the logo of the advertiser. Initialsponsors include computer-maker Hewlett- Packard Co. and online videorental site Netflix Inc. Users can also click to see videoadvertisements from the sponsors.

The company is only making a selection of its videos available forfree in the test. Shows such as CBS Corp.'s "Survivor" still cost$1.99 an episode. User-generated video content will remain free ofcharge and ad-free, Google said.

Making shows available for free may spark new competition forApple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store, which began selling videosonline in October. Apple charges $1.99 per episode for shows such as"Desperate Housewives," made by Walt Disney Co.'s ABC.

"Google's move shows we're in the middle of a clear shift to moreand more video-linked Web services," said Jankees Ruizeveld, whohelps manage the equivalent of $2.2 billion in equities at OptimixVermogensbeheer NV in Amsterdam, including Google shares. "Video Webservices will become increasingly important, which means extrainfrastructure capacity is needed and as a result big investmentswill be necessary."

Shares of Google rose $4.91 to $404.86 Friday in Nasdaq StockMarket composite trading. They have declined 2.4 percent this year.

"We are always looking for ways to show targeted and engagingadvertising to users and we think that Google Video is a naturalextension of this ongoing effort," the company said in an e-mailedstatement.

Orders for the iPod music player and sales of music and videosthrough Apple's iTunes online music store accounted for 50 percent ofthe company's second-quarter sales, the company said April 19.

Google's move, reported Friday in the Wall Street Journal,highlights how media companies are searching for workable businessmodels to sell video content online. Disney, the second-biggest U.S.media company, in April announced a test for making primetime ABCshows available online for free. The shows are funded by advertisingthat users aren't able to skip.

"There are some activities that generate all the money for Googleand they're doing lots of other things that they hope will make moneyin the future," said Marco van Rijn, who oversees the equivalent of$7.5 billion as head of the ING Bank Global Fund at ING InvestmentManagement in The Hague and owns Google shares. "We don't attach alot of value to add-ons like video."