You’re Just Too Monetizable for Google+ to Ever Go Away
At the moment, none of the live streaming services — not Google Hangouts on Air, not Ustream, and not the more restrictive YouTube Live — are having more than a marginal impact on broadcast news, concerts, or the live events business generally. But 15 years of digital media history show that marginal online phenomena can quickly turn into big business, whether it’s MP3s on the open internet, custom online radio stations, paid movie streams on Netflix, or recorded amateur video on YouTube.
Google’s latest move takes what has been a popular video-chat system for small groups and turns it into a much better vehicle for building an audience. The broadcast version of Google Hangouts, known as Google Hangouts on Air, launched two years ago, and has been widely available since May 2012. But until now the system wasn’t designed to handle scheduled shows of the sort that encourage repeat viewers.
The new and improved version of Hangouts on Air takes Google deeper into the field of live online video streaming, which has been dominated by dedicated players like Ustream, and which has become increasingly competitive with broadcast news and as an alternative to visiting live events like concerts.
The changes to the photo and video features of Google+, meanwhile, are all about enticements. Make your photos look better. Share them more easily. Find the good stuff more easily. All of these additions are meant to attract more users and more active use of Google+.
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