Hey guys,
TGIF!
Ever since Facebook has introduced the Facebook live feature, Google has been trying to overcome this situation.
A couple of months ago, Facebook started adding mid-roll ads to their videos.
Now Google has gone Netflix – Google is now featuring Youtube TV, syndicated service for $35/month in selected countries (naturally in the US first).
This doesn’t come as a surprise, as the first Amazon produced movie has actually won two Academy Awards (Oscars) – which means that online companies are now taking over offline markets completely.
Youtube TV isn’t a new notion, per se – Apple has already produced a streamer back in the day just for that but that is not the reason why Google has decided to put Youtube on TV – but to crack down on TV ads, to combat DirectTV as well as venture into a territory Facebook, its main rival in this field, has not gone into yet.
Ok, so why Youtube TV?
Simple – since Youtube uses the same algorithm and machine learning to learn what you actually like to watch, the experience will be tailored to the user – which means that the TV shows that we can expect to see on such a new venture are the ones we actually want – not the ones they syndicate at the moment.
This is good news for cord cutters who have already switched to Netflix and Hulu and would like to experience something different.
In terms of advertising though, this move would only help Youtube as it is not bound by current geographical distribution restrictions as local cable TV distributors offer.
What about targeting? What are users expected to see?
Targeting would be tricky, but at least the ads that will be shown are targeted for the users – which means better engagement with more possible consumers to watch, as TV time is usually family time.
We can already see kids nagging for a new phone based on their preferences every other day of the week.