“When a high-tech company slaps the word ‘beta’ on a product, it’s usually a sign it isn’t quite ready for prime time, yet advanced enough to get a good sense of what it will become. Google Inc. regularly releases services that it dubs beta. So when it opened its highly anticipated Google Video Store last week, expectations were high. But this time, Google really means beta. In its first weeks, the online store is unusually rough around the edges. So far, it doesn’t have much premium content, the quality is hit or miss and the interface could be better,” Matthew Fordahl writes for The Associated Press. “As it stands, the service (at http://video.google.com) has a way to go before it will come close to its potential. The problem is striking when compared to Apple Computer Inc.’s well-designed iTunes store. Apple also suffers from a dearth of content, though it has added a smattering of NBC shows to its previous handful of ABC programming that can be viewed on a video-capable iPod, a Mac or PC. It also has thousands of music videos and an endless supply of free video podcasts.”
“I decided to purchase an early ‘Brady Bunch’ episode [from the Google Video Store] that highlighted the awkwardness of joining the two families,” Fordahl writes. “In its default size, the video quality wasn’t bad for a 30-something-year-old TV show. But when I blew it up to full screen, the video was noticeably blotchy–much more so than videos that I have played from Apple’s iTunes.”
Full article here.
We’d probably buy exclusive content from the Google Video Store, even though anything that’s not free won’t play on iPod due to Google’s proprietary Digital Rights Management (DRM), but the quality of the video is so bad, it isn’t worth anything. For a company based on finding things to make finding things in the Google Video Store such a poor experience is laughable.
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Related articles:
Review: ‘Google and CBS release embarrassment of a video store’ – January 12, 2006
Analyst: Google Video Store’s proprietary DRM a sign of Google’s ‘arrogance’ – January 07, 2006
I am really surprised by Google to release something that I would call embarrassing. They did such a nice job with Google eath I figured this company can do no wrong. Especially when Google earth is compared to microsofts version, it was even more impressive that google did a fine job.
But that video store is simply awful. It should never have been released, not yet. It sure makes Apple look all that more professional with their snazzy setup. Apple does things right and it’s a great example for other corporations to follow.
They have an incredible buisiness model.
I thought Google did too, but they dropped the ball with this so called video store. It’s chaotic and just too plain. I think they’ll fix it up good in the near future.
It is very difficult for the other companies to compete when it comes to the user experience. Apple got them (the other companies) with their industrial design, easy to use interface, and “cool” factor.
Just look at the other companies that tried to compete…they died along the way.
To be fair, we had a great iTunes knock off. The only problem was that it was too much of a knock off and it was killed to avoid the inevidible lawsuit from @pple. However, to meet a deadline with our content partners, this crap was thrown together in a couple of days.
the video content is mostly just a place where people put up home movies it seems to me. and the quality is crap, came across some gut-churning videos of girls fighting too. is that a refection of the type of content google wants there. or simply they dont care. its not for me.
I think that the difference in video quality will go farther in separating the Google video store from Apple’s. I, for one, would buy my movies from the vender with the highest quality. (assuming of course that they played on a Mac)
“… even though anything that’s not free won’t play on iPod due to Google’s proprietary Digital Rights Management (DRM)…”
Umm, all DRMs are proprietary, even Apple’s. Apple is not letting any other company use it, therefor it is proprietary. Microsplat will license their DRM to you but it has too small a market share and mind share to be worth it. Not to say anything about the horrid quality of Microsquish’s DRMed Windblows Media Player files.
Let’s stop talking about “Proprietary” this and “proprietary” that when it is all in fact proprietary, even our own, favorite DRM.
I don’t believe the Beta gimmick Google tries to put on us any more. Everything they release is Beta and stays that way almost forever. It’s just a way for them to say, “hey if you say our products suck”, then they can say, “it’s a Beta were working on it.” Yaa right, Google were not going to be fooled any longer. There IM client sucks, that Google software pack they put together sucks, and now their video store absolutely sucks. Google has by far the worst designers I’ve ever seen. They may have great engineers, but you can’t trust an engineer to develop a solid user interface.
Hey, “Insider”: Learn how to spell “inevitable”; maybe then I’ll believe you work at Google.
The Google Video service existed before they added the pay content. It was and is a ripoff of YouTube. (Or YouTube’s ripping off Google; I don’t know who came first.) I was expecting more than just adding the pay content onto the video site with the same interface used for such classic videos as “Idiot skateboarder wipes out”, and “Wacky Japanese TV people do silly things”.
As I said in the comments to the last Google Video article, CBS is insane if they plan on using Google exclusively. Google Video offers NO MARKETING. They don’t PUSH anything on the site, it’s just dumped there for you to download. Compare with the front page of iTunes: lots of banners and images, pointing you to the hottest downloads.
And why the fsck doesn’t Google’s DRM work with the Mac?
Ok anyone check out the “Why Macs Suck” video on google?
Insider, you’re daft. There are plenty of other services that mimic iTunes and the iTMS, already. The idea that Google didn’t release their knockoff for fear of a lawsuit is a lie. Why would anyone get a kick out of pretending to work at Google?
The video store is horrible, but kudos to google for actually pre-formatting the free videos for viewing on the ipod. Once downloaded the videos are actually decent quality and I have taken free content and just dropped it into itunes to watch on my ipod with no hassles whatsoever.
Hey “Fair is Fair”, I don’t think anyone needs a remedial explanation that all content is protected in some way. But thanks.
The point that MDN is making is that when you purchase the Google video, it has limited use for iPod owners due to the Google DRM.
If google paid the big bucks and partnered with Apple, with Apple providing the quality content, the interface, and the QC, then Google would really have something. Plus it would sell more iPods, which is the significant goal of Apple.
This was a *very* nice Christmas present for Apple. Thanks Google! Because Google’s video service uses their own DRM, it further fragments the nonPod experience. Also, since Google can do nothing less than pure magical goodness in the minds of so many, their ridiculous attempt at a video service is to Apple what a bunch of ugly girls are to a decent looking girl they surround at a bar.
Now if only Microsoft would take the bait and release their own nonPod.
Check out DTV.com. A nice little Mac OSX program, open source, free, and just a little buggy, but worth the effort.
That video store is what I would like to call a hot mess.
As I can’t get any video from itunes here in sunny scotland I don’t care. Why am I subsidising the usa?
while the Google Video Store is horrable, Google Video itself for just searching and streaming stuff is the best there is on the web, very simple to use and straightforward. Too bad they rip the audio out of all music videos that are on there, I wish you could stream those for free.
I work for Google.
So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies.
Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what
you are talking about.
But trust me…. You don’t.
I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality
you dont know what you are talking about.
This is how bad info gets passed around.
If you dont know about the topic….Dont make yourself sound like you do.
Cuz some macheads beleive anything they hear.
Oh god I’m laughing my a$$ off
Were in the heck did google dig up these old B rated relics anyhow?
Well due to their volume they might just actually sell a few thousand copies.
I think Google has got so much cash and nothing worth doing to spend it on.
Like some attention deficit disorder kid.
Yeah, Tom Strong, I believe you work for Google just as much as “Insider” does. You spell just as well as he does, too. Given how selective Google is in hiring, I have a feeling writing skills count.
Anybody can come on an anonymous forum like this and claim anythng they want. I’ll believe you’re a Google employee when you provide specific info, not some generic “everything you know is wrong” horsecrap.
Theres a saying – ‘stick to your knitting’.
Googles expertise, or ‘knitting’, is Searching. They should just stick to that.
Google and CBS what the hell are you doing? Is this the counter to apple/itunes?
This is the year of the iTunes killers, and google is first to get smacked down. Up next… Vongo and Sonny Connect Music/Video 2.0
Just had a look at the store.
It just looks crap and amateurish.
Google should stick to what they know best and not try and be an ‘everything’ company.
This has done more damage to their brand reputation than anything else.
The video of the girl in the swimsuit was the best thing about this store
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Summary: Maybe in 5 years they might get it right.
re: tom
If you think that is a working model for a video store then you guys need to invest in more r+d.
As a user, the experience was crap:
– Video content limited
– Video content very poor quality.
– No shopping basket facility
The list is endless.
Yes I use a mac, but i am a customer too – and that is more important to google than the fact that i use a mac.
You lost a sale guys because of your poor store concept.