Google plans to add shopping links below some videos on YouTube, according to a new leak. The alleged business plan is presented as a way to compete with online shopping giant Amazon, though the merchandise links are described as simply a test, meaning they may not stick around. As well, Google allegedly plans to rebrand its Google Express marketplace.
YouTube has revealed a big new business decision related to its YouTube Originals: all new content will be freely available going forward. This is a big change for the company, which previously required its users to pay for a YouTube Premium subscription to access these shows. The YouTube Originals content will include advertisements when viewed by regular (free) users.
YouTube has penned a deal with Major League Baseball (MLB) to offer free livestreams of 13 games during the second half of the 2019 baseball season. The exclusive deal will cover streaming in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, marking YouTube's first live game distribution partnership with the league. The livestreams will feature regular season games.
Google is notorious for having a messy messaging platform strategy but its entertainment ecosystem is not any better. It once rallied music, moves, books, and news under a single "Google Play" banner but then probably realized that YouTube is a stronger brand. It has recently decided to eventually sunset Google Play Music in favor of YouTube Music but there has barely been any movement on that front until now. And it's quite a tiny move at that.
Verizon has announced a partnership with Google that'll allow the service provider to offer YouTube TV bundles with some of its products. The option will be made available to Verizon wireless, 5G Home, and Fios broadband customers, the company said in its announcement this week. YouTube TV enables subscribers to stream live television over the Internet, serving as an alternative to satellite and cable.
Google Home owners can now use the smart speaker to stream audio from YouTube Music for free. This provides those customers with music streaming on Google Home straight out of the box, but there is a catch: the free service is subsidized by the presence of advertisements. Google Home users will need to setup the speaker to use YouTube Music before they can use the new perk, however.
For years now, Google and Amazon have been embroiled in a feud that saw the services of one company removed from the platforms of the other. Back at the beginning of last year, for example, Google decided to block devices like Fire TV and Echo Show from accessing YouTube. Amazon, meanwhile, has restricted its Prime Video app on Chromecast and Android TV. It was a particularly petty retail war that ultimately gave consumers fewer options, but today, it seems to be coming to an end.
YouTube TV is getting more expensive, with Google's streaming service seeing its second price bump since it launched two years ago. Google says that the price change reflects the addition of new channels for YouTube TV, as well as broader availability across the US, though cord-cutters who saw it as salvation from expensive cable packages may be less impressed.
YouTube is working on its own interactive original shows, the company has confirmed, joining Netflix in embracing the experimental format. The original content will enable viewers to participate in the shows by choosing what happens as the story progresses. The project has been handed to YouTube's Ben Relles, who was behind the company's unscripted programming.
Those of you still holding onto a Google Play Music subscription might want to prepare to jump to YouTube Music. It's been clear since YouTube Music launched that the company planned to move away from Google Play Music, and it's gotten the ball rolling on that front today. Google has sent out an email to artists hosted on the service to tell them that the Google Play Artist Hub will be shutting down at the end of this month.
Facebook may be the scapegoat of privacy violations these days but Google's YouTube is under fire for a different kind of violation: trust. The latest string of harmful content spliced into kids' videos is actually just the latest chapter in an ongoing saga that revolves around questionable content that gets passed YouTube's supposed protections. It turns out, according to anonymous insiders, YouTube execs are well aware of the problem but are supposedly turning a blind eye all for the sake of this thing called "engagement".
With Google Stadia, cloud gaming is about to get a lot more interactive - especially on the streaming front. Users will be able to stream gameplay in the Stadia platform (in a web browser), and can use Crowd Play and State Share to invite viewers in to play, too. With Crowd Play, it's about joining in live, with State Share, it's about a challenge. All of this was announced with the promise that Stadia would work on desktop and mobile platforms alike.