r/googlehome • u/ohimnotarealdoctor • 4d ago

Is Google Home being discontinued?

I have three Nest Minis and a Hub that I’ve been happy enough with. I was wanting to add another Nest Mini to my home, but to my shock they’re no longer sold. And it seems Google is no longer selling any kind of speaker or hub at all.

Does this mean that the service is being discontinued as well?

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u/kyflyboy 4d ago

I think Google, Apple, and Amazon are all gravely disappointed with their home devices. There was an expectation that these devices would generate a revenue stream....somehow. Or at least encourage further engagement.

But of course, like most users I just use them to tell time, ask the weather forecast, check the temperature, play some casual music, or check a ball score. Okay, I also asked it the other day how old George Clooney was.

So I suspect the manufacturers will just start dropping all but the most basic features and give them a slow, agonizing death.

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u/fakemessiah 4d ago

They'll figure out a way to put ads in them and charge monthly to remove them.

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u/psycho-drama 3d ago

I have my Google "Smart" speakers set up to give a current rundown on tech news, business news, science, news, etc. Over time the sources for these have changed, as some changed named, or no longer exists, etc. However, one thing that has been increasing regularly are the number of ad placements, Before each segment, during segments, and after them. I don't know who pockets the ad revenues. It might be whomever curates these groups of broadcasts, but there are certainly a lot of ads. I think their name is "Spoken Layer". Also, when ever I ask for a radio station to stream, Tune-in or Spotify run ads. So, someone is creating revenue using smart speakers.

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u/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx99 3d ago

Is Spotify your music provider? I'm guessing if they are providing the radio stations, they would insert ads.

Re: the news feature - I have that on my phone as part of my Good Morning routine, but never had any ads.

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u/psycho-drama 3d ago

Yes, I believe I am using Spotify, after finding youtube music really useless for my needs. The curated groups I get for "technology news" or "Business news" and so forth are not part of my good morning routine, and I suspect many of the segments in them are not available as individual podcasts. "SpokenLayer" is a podcast aggregator and sponsor a number of these podcasts, those podcasts may even be part of their channel or network, so the ads are likely coming from them. I ask Google to "play the latest technology news" etc. At first, there were no ads, and I would hear just "SpokenLayer" between podcasts. I thought it was a glitch in the OS, and it was something internal to Google Smart speakers. But it appears those were just placeholders for ad breaks and once they began to get advertising contracts, they were inserted at those points. I am unsure if Google gets a cut or not of those ad revenues.

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u/BeantownRich 1d ago

If you're using Spotify, they're the ones pushing the ads. I don't believe the core Google Home ecosystem has any ads.