I exploit plenty of Google companies, out of which 4 are paid: Google One, YouTube Premium, Play Pass, and Nest Aware. As a primarily software-driven model, you’d assume that Google would know the best way to bundle its numerous companies, but it surely would not do something near that. If something, Apple, a {hardware} firm, does a significantly better job on this space with Apple One, the place it bundles iCloud storage, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and Apple Music in a single handy subscription.
I do not perceive why Google can not do the identical. Heck, it even has a service with Google One branding, and all it really has to do is membership all of its disparate choices below one plan. However that appears like an excessive amount of to ask of Google, so as an alternative Google One solely provides cloud storage, YouTube Premium is just good for ad-free YouTube (and largely forgettable originals), Nest Conscious is for accessing the footage of safety cameras you already paid for, and I am nonetheless attempting to grasp why I pay for Play Go.
Anyway, the purpose is that Google ought to have found out a option to membership its software program choices right into a single subscription years in the past, and the truth that it nonetheless would not do that’s annoying to say the least. If something, it advantages the search big to introduce an all-in-one subscription bundle that covers YouTube, Drive storage, Play Go, and Nest Conscious.
Now, Google rolled out the Pixel Go two years in the past alongside the Pixel 6 sequence, the place it bundled 200GB of Google Drive storage, YouTube Premium, YouTube Music, Play Go, and a Most well-liked Care service that covers unintended injury to Pixel {hardware}. Whereas Google was clearly on the suitable path, Pixel Go was restricted to the U.S., and it was discontinued with the launch of the Pixel 8 sequence.
That is the largest drawback with Google’s software program on the whole — anytime the model has a half-decent thought, it kills it off earlier than it might take off. It is virtually as if every Google service is inbuilt a silo, and there isn’t any overarching technique for the model as an entire. Clearly, not everybody would profit from subscribing to all of Google’s companies, however an all-in-one subscription would permit Google to promote lesser-used companies like Play Go to a wider vary of customers.
Google is alleged to be mulling a Pixel Go successor that features an all-in-one subscription bundle, however as of now, there isn’t any telling when that is likely to be accessible, or in what areas. That is one other supply of frustration with Google companies — the model would not embody all options in all areas.
For example, I pay for Google One, and a current function addition is the inclusion of a VPN that is baked into the service. Just one drawback — it is not accessible in India. Whereas Google One is obtainable in over 100 areas, the VPN is proscribed to 22 nations, so customers in different areas do not get the function regardless that they pay for cloud storage. It is this kind of preferential therapy that is notably irksome when utilizing Google’s companies.
Finally, Google wants a clearly outlined technique for its software program efforts, however that is simpler mentioned than completed. Google makes a lot cash from search promoting that it virtually feels just like the model would not actually care about setting an overarching agenda for its software program companies, and that establishment is not set to alter anytime quickly.