Google’s Refined Strategy with Google TV

For a recent project around streaming TV platforms I worked on, I had to analyze a number of different platforms and interfaces. While I had seen Android TV demos at Google and had minimal hands-on time with it, after purchasing a TCL Android TV and spending more time with the Android TV platform, I was shocked at how weak the UI was in comparison to the other platforms I was analyzing. Google ranked last in nearly every segment except for app availability and search.

Every bit of research on the space that we have done ourselves at Creative Strategies, or that I have read, strongly suggests consumers have two fundamental driving desires around their content consumption habits. First is to get to what they want to watch quickly, and second, it to find something to watch.

Most platforms I analyzed did one of these relatively decently but did not excel at either. Having done user-interface design before, I understand the trade-offs that are often made, and TV/streaming platforms had to either focus on an app focused UI or a content-focused UI. Roku, for example, is an app focused UI which assumes you know where your content lives (within which app) and wants to get you quickly to the source. It offers little to nothing to help you discover.

A UI like FireTV was much more content forward and sought to surface content from your sources as well as take you down a road to discovery by showing recommended shows based on what you watch.

Both examples had their flaws, and the balancing act between both modes was evident. With the latest refinement of Android now turning into Google TV, Google looks to be building an updated TV experience built around the companies core goal of being helpful. Hence, Google is positioning Google TV as a helpful TV experience.

The one area my analysis of these platforms Google lead was with search. Google TV doubles down on this function with a deeply integrated Google assistant and highlights the strength of their search as a major feature of Google TV. Google is taking a content publisher-friendly approach and seems to have most of the major content sources like Netflix, Prime, Disney+, etc., integrated into their platform, which will help the content forward UI and the search feature. Notably missing from the Google TV content partner list is Apple TV+, and it will be interesting to see if Apple works with Google TV to bring Apple TV+ content to Google’s platform.

There is one area where I think Google has a unique hook here to draw more users to the Google TV platform, and that is YouTubeTV. While Hulu remains the leader in terms of users, YouTube TV is growing at the second-highest rate of any streaming TV service. As of now, it is essentially a two-horse race in streaming TV platforms with Hulu and YouTubeTV well in front of anyone else. I can see YouTubeTV being a driver of adoption of Google TV for all the reasons listed above and the tight integration with YouTubeTV into GoogleTV, giving it an edge with live TV, which is something both FireTV and Roku don’t have.

Both Roku and Amazon have a relatively large lead in terms of platform share for TV/smart TV interfaces. Particularly in the midst of this current pandemic streaming sticks from Roku and Amazon have seen the largest continued growth they have ever seen. Google TV is launching at the right time but still has its work cut out for them. But the product itself is a huge step forward from what Android TV was up to this point. With this market still rapidly growing, Google is now in a better position to take a portion of the growth in streaming TV platforms.

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Ben Bajarin

Ben Bajarin is a Principal Analyst and the head of primary research at Creative Strategies, Inc - An industry analysis, market intelligence and research firm located in Silicon Valley. His primary focus is consumer technology and market trend research and he is responsible for studying over 30 countries. Full Bio

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