Streaming platforms are growing like mushrooms after the rain and where a few years ago there was only Netflix and a few competitors, now it’s packed to bursting. Google is reportedly planning to integrate a streaming service into its YouTube platform, which is the largest of its kind and therefore has huge potential in this regard. What can we look forward to?
YouTube as a new streaming platform?
According to a report by Gizmochina, Google is preparing to implement a new streaming concept into its YouTube platform. This will allow users to watch movies, TV shows and other such things for free. Well, almost free – the service will support advertising, through which it will be funded.
It is the advertising that will make it unnecessary to pay for content, and Google is reportedly in talks with various entertainment companies to test the concept and see if it has a future. The overall concept is similar to the Pluto TV platform, which offers free viewing of content from Paramount Network or TV Land Drama channels.
Low-cost or free streaming is trending
Photo by Phillip Goldsberry on Unsplash
The fact is that Google already has pay TV, through its YouTube TV platform, which is currently subscribed to by around 5 million subscribers. This allows the search giant to link the two platforms and support a free streaming model from pay-TV, which offers over 100 live channels.
In the streaming world, the model of low-cost subscriptions or straight free content that is subsidized by ads is currently very widespread. This type of service is offered by Netflix, Peacock, Disney or HBO Max, for example. Google could again expand its user numbers with this model, as not everyone is interested in paying a subscription fee and would rather bite the ads.
How to reach people and still generate profits
If Google does deploy this streaming model, it will only confirm its focus on advertising as its main source of revenue. Cheap or free streaming is becoming popular because it allows companies to reach a wider audience while still generating profits, which is what ads do, and this would of course be the case with a similar system on YouTube.
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