In an attempt to be the bearer of everything that users might be looking for, Google also wants to suggest which TV series and films you can stream from the main services, and it does so with a carousel of graphics content captivating, reachable simply by searching what to watch on Google. Too bad all that glitters is not gold.
On the desktop, the presentation is excellent: a carousel of contents that react to the passage of the mouse, enlarging and animating, with the possibility of immediately seeing any trailer or to watch the content itself on the services to which we are subscribers , but also possibly to buy / rent it . Supported streaming services are:
- Netflix
- Prime Video
- Apple TV +
- Disney +
- Infinty TV
We will also recommend content from YouTube / Play Film to rent or buy.
You can either filter the type of content (TV shows, movies or both) and streaming services, so that you don't get suggestions from those you don't subscribe to, as well as the content itself. To do this you will have a series of predefined and non-modifiable options, which you can see in their interest through the screenshot above.
From mobile the experience is similar to the desktop one, with the appropriate differences. In fact, there is no mouse to zoom in on the various tabs, but you simply have to tap on them and a carousel will open with still more information than those present on the desktop. In fact, you will have a brief synopsis of the content, with the possibility of marking if you have already seen it, and with the option to add it to your title list, available in a separate tab in the home of the service.
The same filters already seen on the desktop remain, even if they are horizontal scrolling. Any trailer, where present, can be reached by clicking on the cover of the content, but it will not open the video inside it, but will send you back to the YouTube app.
However, it should be noted that, from mobile, you may be invited to participate in a survey to improve the personalization of the service. You will be shown a series of movie posters, with no additional information, and you can tell if you like it or not, or ignore it. The gallery below, captured from Android, is a good example of this.
However, it is useless to go too far in explaining such a simple service, which you can test yourself by searching on Google what to watch (I recommend the “that” otherwise it does not work, but you can try variants such as “what to watch on netflix” and the like). There is also a useful official support page which we encourage you to consult if in doubt.
Despite the good first impression, Google's service has several shortcomings at the moment, in my view. To make it clear how many there are, we will try to summarize them by points, without any order of importance.
- From desktop there is no information on the various contents proposed. A leaflet and a title are not enough to understand what it is, trailers are not always present, and when present they open in a separate tab on YouTube, fragmenting the navigation.
- Filters are few and inconvenient . From desktop you can at least see them all together, from mobile they are horizontal scrolling, which is horrible. The filters also mix both genres and streaming services and are ordered in a completely random way, making them confusing to use. Furthermore, they are insufficient to cover even one trivial query such as “content for children” or for families.
- Even filtering a little, the contents are still a lot . There are often at least 10 lines of suggestions (17 on the home page), each scrolling horizontally (about 6 clicks each).
- Desktop bookmark management is very bad . It is clear that it is designed from a mobile point of view, because from PC there is no dedicated tab, but you will have to reach this link to consult them, and you will not be able to remove them directly but you will have to click on the profile of the film, and then, in the box information that will open on the right, you have the possibility to uncheck the favorite.
- It is not possible to search for a more specific content , unless it is proposed to you. If you select “animation”, “Harley Quinn” will appear in the filters, but not “Batman” for example; good luck then in looking for a One Piece anime. In this sense, if you had a specific content in mind to see, we advise you to consult our streaming finder.
This is not to say that Google's service is bad, but that it would need to be revised in many respects to become more useful, especially on desktop (the mobile vocation is evident), also because it steals a lot of space in the search results at perhaps better contents , but which in this way are more easily ignored.
