Technology News And Reviews

Google has announced a new service, which is being rolled out slowly, as is typical of cloud-based services. It is called OneBox, and what it aims to do, in concert with Google’s music search partners MySpace (and its recently acquired iLike subsidiary) and Lala, is allow users to play limited previews and full songs in their search results.

Besides iLike and Lala, OneBox results will include Pandora, Imeem, and Rhapsody when available. What you might notice is missing are results from iTunes and Amazon MP3. From their partners, it seems like Google was looking mostly for cloud-based streaming music services, although one could also guess that the omission of iTunes (and maybe Amazon MP3) is perhaps yet another indication of how hard it is to work with iTunes in terms of licensing, as Hollywood has been wont to say.

No, it probably has nothing to do with the rejection of Google Voice, it you are thinking along those lines. Here’s what Google said in their blog post announcing the feature:

This feature doesn’t just make search better. It also helps people discover new sources of licensed music online while helping artists to discover new generations of fans and reconnect with longtime listeners. Our users love music, and this tool introduces millions of music seekers in the U.S. to a new generation of licensed online music services, from MySpace and Lala to Pandora, imeem and Rhapsody.

Of course, this is just a first step toward making search more musical. There’s a lot of music out there in the world, and in some instances, we may not return links to the song you’re looking for. But by combining the strength of Google’s search algorithms with our music search partners’ efforts to increase the comprehensiveness of their music content, we’re on track to answer more of your rhymes with the right rhythms.

Of course, as Google has said before (and often), the best search results are whatever are the best results, whether it’s in the form of a video, an image, a magazine, a book, or a song.

This is just another move in that “universal search” paradigm.

Watch an introductory video on the service below: