Soon, Google Play Movies might offer free, ad-supported content
Google Play Movies, the dedicated entertainment space operated by Google on the Play Store, has long been serving as an ideal 'digital marketplace' to buy/rent new, trending movies. The category works seamlessly, but going by a new report, it could soon get the much-coveted ability to offer free, ad-supported movies to the users. Here's all you need to know about it.
Teardown shows major change in Google Play Movies
Just recently, the folks at XDA-Developers dug into the code of the latest version of the 'Google Play Movies & TV' and found evidence suggesting that the app could soon get support for ad-laced movies. One particular string in the code directly says "hundreds of movies, just a few ads," clearly indicating the plan to bring free, ad-support content in the future.
No word from Google on the matter
The code only indicates the underlying work done on the Play Movies app, but there is no word from Google on when or if it plans to make the free titles available. Also, there is no way to say if the new ad-based model would be made available for all the titles available on Play Movies or just some of them.
This would boost user-base of Play Movies
Either way, the move to introduce free, ad-supported movies on Play Movies could play a big part in boosting its adoption in countries like India, where buying and renting of original copies of movies is not a common practice. (piracy, cough, piracy) Not to mention, it will also help Google take on the likes of growing OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Google also offers movies through YouTube
To recall, along with Play Movies, Google also offers movies through its subsidiary YouTube. However, both platforms have the exact library of content and offer the same rent/purchase prices.
