LocateTV Blog

Will LocateTV become the Google of TV? Perhaps if we strip away the billions of dollars of income, and the way the very name of the company has become synonymous with its function to an extent almost unimaginable in the heady days of web 0.5, we might stand a chance of justifying such a bold claim.

First of all, let’s make sure we’re all following the same script here. We are talking about Google as in “to Google who invented the Cathode Ray tube” (it was German, Karl Ferdinand Braun by the way – yep, I’m Googlesmart), not the Google who are expanding at such a rate that soon no action will be performable without the big G prefix.

So, how is Locate TV the Google of television? Allow us to explain how the perennial search engine has helped shape our ambitions…

Philosophy

Google’s vision has always been to organise the world’s information and make it accessible – our scope is rather more focused, but no less ambitious in our own way. Our dream is to build the most exhaustive database of programming information and schedule listings, relevant for everyone across the world. Furthermore, we will provide information on where your favourite programmes are available online – either via Internet TV (such as Joost) or to order and buy from sites such as Amazon. Same vision, different dream.

User-interaction

Google’s success has been partly due to their departure from the aim of virtually every other website – that is, to keep visitors on their pages. While sites such as Yahoo and MSN present their users with an overwhelming array of stimuli (such as news articles, film reviews, stock tickers and weather forecasts), Google has made an art out of a high bounce rate and clean, streamlined design. Similarly, Locate TV acts as a portal to guide our users towards the information they need as quickly and easily as possible – be it actor credits, programme synopses, DVDs to buy or discussions about your favourite shows, let Locate TV point you right, with the minimum of fuss.

Design

Google has become a modern design classic and, while we daren’t hope to reach such dizzying heights of fame and fortune, we are fully aware that people are not attracted by flashy banner ads, garish colour schemes and scrolling/blinking text. While we have taken pains to create our own identity and style that we hope you will find unobtrusive and attractive - we think it is safe to say that Google have clearly set the tone for ease-of-use search page design, and we would be foolish not to humbly take their lead.

Sid