Google launches new video quality report to evaluate ISP network performance
Google Inc. is launching a new service designed to evaluate the connection speeds of Internet providers, in the hopes of identifying which companies are delivering the best experience for consumers who want to watch high definition video online.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google has spent four years building its own answer to slow broadband: the experimental gigabit fiber network announced in February 2010, extended to Stanford homes that October, and demonstrated at 151Mbps download speeds in August 2011. On the content side it pushed HD itself, moving Google+ Hangoffs off H.264 to VP8 so Hangouts could stream in high definition. The new video quality report completes that loop: having built pipes and codecs, Google is now publishing scorecards on everyone else's pipes.
The story traveled fast — eight tech outlets including Engadget, Digital Trends, The Next Web and SlashGear picked up the Financial Post piece on launch day, signaling that ISP performance measurement is a live consumer topic rather than a niche engineering story.
First-order effects
- ISPs now have their HD video delivery graded by the operator of the internet's largest video platform, giving consumers a named comparison tool when choosing providers.
Second-order effects
- Providers ranked poorly in the report face reputational pressure to invest in last-mile capacity, while rival video services gain a template for publishing their own ISP scorecards.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, video platforms become de facto broadband regulators — measurement published by the company that also sells fiber blurs the line between referee and player in the broadband market.
The trend: Video platforms are shifting from being passive beneficiaries of ISP capacity to actively grading ISP performance, using transparency reports as leverage over network investment.