We Will All Be Media Moguls

John Batelle writes that Google will introduce a digital video player from its video search beta site. The concept is that anyone can upload video to Google, tag it with category keywords so that others can search for it.

Battelle thinks that the digital video player "will be integrated with the Google payment program which was revealed to be in process last week. Plenty of folks uploaded video to Google with a payment option, and that has yet to roll out, but you can expect that it will. . . . this will help the spread of an alternative universe for video distribution and playback, one independent of the walled garden business model in which video is currently locked."

Most European markets are closing down their analogue TV-broadcasts these days. Digital technology is cheaper and offers better quality. In most of these markets, the TV broadcasts are under heavy regulation and political influence. This Google service could sidestep most current market players and let small broadcasters start their own TV-business.

The search engine will transform into the TV-remote control. When you find what you would like to see, you pay per view. Or you view something that is sponsored from the Google advertisers, for free.

If you think this is far fetched, think again. It's happening today!