Google and ADT debut ADT Self Setup, a SimpliSafe-like security system that ties in with nearly all Nest products and also offers its own sensors, keypad, more
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google : Tweets: @killedbygoogle . Thanks: @nexusben Tweets: @killedbygoogle : Getting this to launch took absolutely for-fucking-ever. https://9to5google.com/... Thanks: @nexusben
Context & Ripple Effects
ADT Self Setup is the product that Google's $450M investment in ADT was quietly building toward: a DIY, self-installed security system — its own sensors and keypad — that doubles as a control layer for nearly all Nest devices. A 2022 Bloomberg profile of ADT's role selling and installing Nest products framed the partnership as ADT becoming Google's smart home distribution arm; this launch adds a subscription-friendly, SimpliSafe-shaped tier to that arrangement.
The arc matters because Google had exited first-party security hardware: it confirmed the discontinuation of Nest Secure, the 2017-era system built around Nest Guard, while continuing to support existing users. Rather than rebuilding that hardware in-house, Google is renting ADT's monitoring brand and installer network and supplying the Nest ecosystem on top.
First-order effects
- DIY security buyers now get a system that pairs ADT-branded sensors and a keypad with near-total Nest device integration, putting ADT in direct head-to-head competition with SimpliSafe's core self-install market for the first time through this channel.
- Google gets back into home security without manufacturing its own hub: Nest cameras, doorbells and thermostats become attachable accessories to an ADT-owned system.
Second-order effects
- SimpliSafe faces a competitor that bundles professional monitoring and installation heritage from ADT with Google's smart home ecosystem — forcing it to differentiate on price or privacy rather than integration breadth.
- Traditional professionally installed alarm rivals lose part of their pitch to customers who want ADT monitoring without the technician visit, since Self Setup removes the install appointment as ADT's barrier to entry.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, home security consolidates into platform partnerships — one company owns the sensors and monitoring relationship, another supplies the connected-home layer — making standalone hubs like Nest Secure structurally redundant.
- The DIY-plus-monitoring hybrid becomes the industry's default segmentation, eroding the historical split between cheap self-install systems and contract-bound professional installations.
The trend: Smart home security is consolidating around partnerships where hardware ecosystems and monitoring providers fuse, as Google's ADT bet converts a discontinued first-party product into a co-branded platform play.