“Google wants to be easy for big video companies to work with,” noted Dave Morgan, CEO of TV audience platform Simulmedia. “[They] will probably keep acquiring companies with teams, tech and customers that get them deeper into the market.” Google, however, is positioning Anvato under the Google Cloud Platform, a separate line of business than the ad-focused DoubleClick. Google’s stated intent with Anvato is to help businesses in the media and entertainment industry “scale their video infrastructure efforts and deliver high-quality, live video and on-demand content to consumers on any device,” senior product manager Belwadi Srikanth wrote in a blog post. But Google also wants to own video infrastructure and TV content delivery pipes. For instance, it recently bought internet service provider Webpass, which expanded the Google Fiber footprint in major markets like Miami and San Francisco. “Google is certainly interested in the television space, and it hasn’t settled out what the exact reason is yet,” said Colin Petrie-Norris, CEO of over-the-top video streaming service Xumo, which is a joint venture of Viant (now under Time Inc.) and Panasonic. “One thing to point out is that delivery of content on over-the-top provides an immediacy of feedback with the consumer in a way that’s different than television.” Thus, big broadcasters, smart TV platforms like Samsung and Google see potential for the precision targeting afforded by OTT, and are investing for the future. “You have the ability to make ads more relevant, and you also don’t need [a certain number of ads per hour in OTT] like you do in cable,” he said. “As a result, you get better yield on fewer, more targeted ads.”
Google Cloud Platform has acquired cloud video platform Anvato to help its media and entertainment customers scale their video infrastructure and deliver high-quality, live video and on-demand content across all devices. Integrated on Google Cloud Platform Cloud Platform, the server-side technology will bypass ad-blockers, delivering ads and content as a "cohesive linear stream".