http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/google-eyeing-twitch-acquisition-for-1-billion-how-it-will-fit-in-to-youtube-223974.html


I thought this was pretty interesting. For those that don't know, twitch is a streaming service. It allows you to broadcast your gameplay, and has over a million users.
Its significant for several reasons. Notably, there isn't a who;e lot of competition in this area, and there growth has been huge. Nvidia graphics cards from the 650 series up all have shadow play built in, which allows for live streaming (from your desktop) to twitch.
Equally both the ps4 and the Xbox one have built in twitch streaming, meaning most of the gaming market is becoming aware of the site.

by their own admission, they have grown far to large far too quickly, and are having trouble coping, so they are quite keen to have a partner in this. If the sale with Google falls through, they would almost certainly find a new buyer.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/18/5729762/twitch-youtube-acquisition-report

The choice of buyer is both interesting and worrying.
While im glad Microsoft seems to have been kicked to the curb (dont get me started) I'm not entirely convinced about selling to YouTube (or Google, same thing really).
the first problem, is googles history.
I preferred YouTube before they got their hands on it. A lot of people do. And their pandering to businesses means a huge amount of videos get pulled for bogus copyright claims, and video creators are always in threat of being banned due to the 3 strikes policy.
The other problem, is that Google is desperately trying to integrate all their services.
This is, frankly, annoying. Every time I use YouTube, it tries to get me to use a google+ account, show my real name etc etc.
There's a very real possibility, that if they buy twitch, they will forcefully integrate google+ and YouTube into it, and create an even bigger mess than before.

I can see how Youtube's stringent and perhaps questionable policies regarding copyright could really hurt Twitch, if the two merge. When uploading game-play videos to Youtube, it will mute copyrighted tracks. Despite how old my DS is, I have to mute the music or they'll do it for me, if I record myself playing through a game.

If the same applied to Twitch, that seems like it would be devastating to the game streamers, especially those who earn money off it.

EideticMemory :
I looked into it more, and apparently lots of lets players moced to twitch from youtube, for that very reason.
If it goes the same way, they could force away enough customers for someone to make a competing site.
Google is paying a lot of money, since twitches turnover after profit is miniscule, you've got to expect some sweeping changes here.
I used to like Google, but they are all about the money now, they turn gold to... Brown stuff.

thenumberone: Thing is, Twitch was supposed to be that competing site. In the best case scenario, the migration of Youtube users to Twitch would have caused Google to relax their copyright policies somewhat. But instead, they're just going to absorb the competition. But you're right, discontent users will probably start another site if Twitch fails. If so, hopefully they won't let Google absorb that one as well. 

Of course, I might be getting ahead of myself. There's always that chance albeit small that this doesn't fall through.

If your theory/conclusion is true, it makes me sick to my stomach since google will acquire yet another asset

tRIUNE :
I can remember the days when they were just a little known search engine. Its crazy how much they own now. I don't even think they could anticipate it.

Only time will tell what they will do to Twitch. True, Twitch could have eventually became a god competitor, but money talks, a billion dollars is a lot.

Wow. With them spending that kind of money, I cannot imagine them NOT doing anything with it. It seems like a very big move on their part, and the odds of them turning it into another YouTube is kind of disheartening. I like Google, especially since they offer a bunch of "free" stuff, which I use very frequently, but the whole censorship on YouTube, and the constant attacks from supposed "copyright infringement" is frustrating. On the whole Google+ thing, I am not so sure they would necessarily force integration, seeing the whole backlash they have been getting with that. If they do though, it really would not affect me either way. However, I can see how it would be frustrating for others. Regardless, only time will tell what will really happen. No sense worrying about it, as there will be no possibility of stopping the whole situation, really. 

This is a mix of good and bad.

YouTube - Gains better streaming and moderation on streams. Emotes woo~

Twitch - Better servers, but Google+ gains.

*waits for the day that Google buys Vizzed and the rest of the internet*

Everybody grab your Googleville brochures, drive to the Google grocery store in your Google car, buy some Google Soda, and relax on your Google couch while watching your Google TV. Yes, Google must be everywhere, and own everything. It's the most annoying thing going on in the tech world, but I can't really blame them. It's annoying, but it's good business, and most businessmen would do the same if they could.


This is really very bad news. I could hope for nothing better than that this deal would fall through. Twitch is not only a better site than YouTube in my opinion, it's also a big part of the game community anymore, and I'm sure that Google will find a way to mess that up. This could cripple much of the industry of game making and streaming. And yes, I'm sure they'll find a way to force Google+ on us with it. What's their first move, "You must sign into Google+ to use the chat box"? And what is their obsession with us giving them all of our personal information, and social updates? You don't see FaceBook forcing you to give them your info to go on other sites.

The last thing that Google did right was the Android. Since then, it's been all down hill. If this deal goes through, Google+ will be integrated, and that alone will ruin Twitch for me, because I'll be shut out of chat. I refuse to be bullied into signing up for a service that I don't want.

Google is the Disney of online social services, so of course they would want a piece. And no, I'm not saying that as a negative at all. With all respect to Google and what it's become, I just hope they don't use Twitch as another attempt to make Google+ work. Remember when YouTube switched formats to Google+? People STILL comment about that.

Honestly, I saw that coming for a while. Google has attempted to get the lead on streaming services for quite a while now but they never managed to reach enough success (at least not on twitch's level). They have been trying, undeniable; They have hangouts, the Youtube's streaming service, but many people have been keeping their distances from those and with good reasons.
Sadly, there haven't been any big commotion from the community yet as of now, I worry of what will Twitch become... It'd suck to have another service force google+ down my throat without giving me a choice at all if I want to keep using the site. I'm a sort of ghost Youtube user ever since they forced me to link my account... I can't imagine what twitch would be like if they did the same sort of thing...

Off-topic: Since there has been talk about Google's growth, here's something interesting (Translation below):

That's the Front Page of the Issue #201 of Super Interessante, a Brazilian Magazine that focus on curiosities and facts about interesting topics of all kinds.
That was from 2004.

Here's a Translation of the text on the white shirt:
"The giant from search engines changed forever the way in which we deal with information. Now he wants to kidnap your computer, destroy Microsoft and recreate the internet!"

I remember being skeptic at the time (I was 11, but I think I would find it absurd anyways even if I was 21). I couldn't be more wrong about my skepticism on that one, sadly.

No. NO. NOOOOOOO!

We don't need any more of an "integrated" world than we already have. Leave Twitch alone, Google, you filthy scum!

I was a YouTube uploader from 2006 (just before Google bought the site) until 2013 (right around the time they began forcing integration with Google accounts), and I had a fairly decent subscriber base, but I abandoned that because YouTube finally became too much of a mess for me to handle. A lot of popular Twitch streamers are going to quit their operations if this happens, I can already see it.