For years now, Google has been trying to make the leap from computers to TV. The internet’s largest advertiser released Google TV in 2010 with the hope of expanding its reach into the lucrative TV market while heading off Roku, Apple, and others in the coming streaming video services market.
Unfortunately for Google, content providers were loathe to give the company access to content, with all four major U.S. TV networks going so far as to block access to their programming from Google TV devices. So, Google TV never fully lived up to its promise of searchable, organized streaming content that could live right beside traditional pay-TV channels.
In the last three years, however, companies such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have become much more successful than individual network websites have. These companies are also much more relaxed about the platforms on which their content is viewed, paving the way for Google to create the Chromecast.
With the inexpensive Chromecast now gaining traction and apps at a fast clip, it seems that Google will be turning more to its Android platform for its TV strategy. A new report from DigiTimes Research has predicted that Chromecast itself will usher in a market for Android-based TV products that better integrate mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. The report points out that Google has already merged its Google TV and Android teams, and that no future Google TV products are expected.
In addition to the TV prediction, DigiTimes believes that the Chromecast might actually increase the market share of Google’s Chrome browser. This cross promotion of sorts could end with Google getting exactly what it has been trying for all these years: internet-style advertisements on living room TV screens.
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