Google on Friday afternoon announced its much-anticipated video service - Google Video Store - which will soon begin to offer, for rent or purchase, downloadable videos online, reports Silicon.com. The announcement was made in conjunction with a keynote address by Google cofounder Larry Page at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Although for now there will be no advertising in the videos or on the video web pages, Google is considering an ad-based model for the future, according to Peter Chane, senior business product manager for Google Video.

Josh Bernoff, a media and internet analyst at Forrester, is quoted by the Independent (U.K.) as saying: "This is a direct action to challenge Microsoft. Google is saying, 'We can manage the browser and other elements of the computer-desktop experience better than you.'"

(Google on Friday also launched the "Google Pack," a software bundle that includes not only Google software but also the Firefox browser and open-source instant message product Trillian, among other items.)

Google Video customers will pay $1.99 to download and have unlimited access to episodes from TV programs from last season or older, and will also be able to rent, for 24 hours, recent episodes of popular TV series from CBS, such as CSI. NBA basketball games shown on TV can be purchased within one day of broadcast for $3.95.

Content providers will be able to post videos on Google's online store and will decide on pricing and copy protection; the videos will be viewable via Google's media player. Major content providers will get more than half the amount from each transaction, Chane said.