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The second generation photo storage : Google Photos

That’s it. It’s official. Google photos is now free from G+ and starting a life of its own. For those who subscribe to our weekly newsletter, you might have noticed that we called what would be the key differentiator: free unlimited storage. With so many of the other features ( with variations) available via competitors, it was the only true unique play Google could make. And while a major draw for any mobile user, it is not the only attractive feature.  Let’s review.

Upload and sync via all your devices (is that a Mac in the background?)
Not really free

First, let’s make a point clear. The unlimited free storage is only valid for photos up to 16MP in size  and 1080p in definition for videos, meaning perfectly fit for your cell phone snaps/videos but out of reach for your DSLR’s and other 4K videos. Google’s logic here is that the service is free for consumers but paying for professionals ( who tend to use the larger formats). Also, as users upgrade to camera phones with more pixel power, they will be forced to add the paying feature to fit the larger formats.  Having already all their older photos in the system, they will be somewhat mouse-trapped into upgrading instead of having to  migrate thousands of photos to another provider. By delaying the inevitable fee, Google craftily manages to create a very strong appeal while strengthening its future income.

Live Hidden

Google Photos delivers on a battery of expected features. The auto-classification by date, for example, is nothing new ( Picasa and other sites have been offering a variation for years) and the minimum  for any photo storage platform. Adding discreet auto-labeling, however, puts it in between the Apple service ( which has none) and Flickr ( which has too much). With Google, the content recognition module, seemingly coupled with GPS and EXIF file classification, serves  another layer of organisation, for the sole purpose of the user ( at least for now). Instead of publicly exposing the auto-generated tags, which lead to PR nightmare for Flickr, Google probably bets that any false positive will be quietly corrected by individual users since complaining about errors would force them to make images that they would rather keep private, exposed to  public scrutiny. In other words, there will be errors, we just will not hear about them so much.

Auto-organise, by people or places, without having to enter any keywords.

 

Free lunches and data farming

Google is making sharing easier. Now that it free from being the promotion engine of G+, Photos  can expand its reach to all social media. With intuitive sharing tools like the multi-photo select ( previously seen on Flickr app), Google Photos announces loud and clear that it intends to be a big part of the social media interaction. Not as a platform, but as a provider of content. Since it offers a link to share, the search giant will certainly take advantage of it to start quantifying which types of images  are shared the most and why. For those of you that might be shocked to read this, remember, there is nothing like a free lunch, especially with Google. If they offer you something for free, it is because they make money with the data you provide them. And photos provide a huge amount of extremely valuable data. In fact, as content recognition gets more accurate, researcher are actively developing tools to better understand what is in the 1.8 billion images we share every day, something we heard over and over during the last LDV Vision Summit. Google is a the forefront of this research, along with Yahoo and Microsoft.

Share as much as you want anywhere you want

The Assistant tool which will help  build experiences around visual content, will certainly have strong appeal, especially with millennials : The last 3 years have seen a high growth of added layers on visual content ( Gifs, Stickers, Text) and Google wants to take advantage of it. It is also a key differentiator from other services like Apple, Flickr or Dropbox’s carousel.

InstaGoogle ?

While the official announcement of  Google’s Photos might not have revealed anything we didn’t already know or expected, it is still a very important milestone. Lest we forget, Google owns the operating system of the majority of mobile in the world. With its seamless auto-upload feature, it is extremely well positioned to becoming the default photo storage provider if only by sheer user laziness. After all, a service that automatically backs-up, beautifies and organised  all photos/videos might be the only thing people need, especially if it’s free ( at first). Furthermore, it is offered by a company that will not suddenly crash and burn overnight, taking with it  your life’s memories. That alone can be the number one reason to choose a photo storage solution.  What Google  Photos is  not is an Instagram/Snapchat killer. In fact, it seems Google has completely dropped the ball on the social media aspect and focused entirely on providing very strong organisation foundation. At least for now.

Photo by Michelle Garayburu

Author: Paul Melcher

Paul Melcher is a highly influential and visionary leader in visual tech, with 20+ years of experience in licensing, tech innovation, and entrepreneurship. He is the Managing Director of MelcherSystem and has held executive roles at Corbis, Stipple, and more. Melcher received a Digital Media Licensing Association Award and is a board member of Plus Coalition, Clippn, and Anthology, and has been named among the “100 most influential individuals in American photography”

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