Google, the search engine giant, might be planning to enter Netflix’s turf, as the internet firm is reportedly looking to start a movie streaming service of its own. A survey talking of a “Google Monthly Movie Pass” suggests that Google may want to explore a Netflix-like movie service.
Does Netflix need to worry?
Google+ user Hugo Seijas posted a screenshot of a Google Opinion Rewards survey, in which he came across a question reading, “Do you have a Google monthly movie pass?” There is hardly any possibility that any user has “Yes” as an answer to this question because there is no such Google monthly movie pass yet as of now.
At present, Google has an enormous archive of movies, but for the time being, they are only available for Android users to rent or purchase. A streaming service makes sense for the internet giant and can be seen as the obvious next step for the company that has YouTube, which is one Google app that plays videos across every platform.
The phrase, “Google is about to enter your market,” is enough to cause other companies sleepless nights. However, Netflix is an undisputed leader in the content streaming space and may or may not be that nervous after hearing the news.
Is Google actually planning such a service?
As of now, there is no confirmation on if Google is considering starting a streaming movie service similar to Netflix, but it cannot be altogether ignored that the search engine giant might be keen to expand into content streaming. Netflix shares have spiked more than 80% so far in 2015, and therefore, the company is attracting other big names to the streaming segment.
It is also possible that the service will never reach the end customer, and the question was meant only to weed out people who are just completing the survey without actually reading it.
Another reason this could just be a rumor is because Google Play is a very successful service, and it would not make much sense to ignore the brand and start a standalone app. The monthly movie pass does not settle very well with the “Play” store. The third reason wold be that announcing any potential service through a survey does not sound like the best strategy.