In recent months, streaming media app Plex has expanded its focus from offering tools to organize and stream your home media collection of photos, TV shows and movies, to more directly targeting cord cutters. Related to these efforts, the company has now made its first acquisition, with a deal to bring in the news video service Watchup to its platform.
Integrate with Plex and I’ll use it.
Why do I get the feeling that in time this will be used to push “promoted” content, or items curated for you without being able to turn them off, but you can personalise the experience to make them more relevant to you by telling them what you Like or are interested in. A big data slurp and monetisation opportunity. “This personalization technology, now owned by Plex, will be used for other content in the future, says Keith Valory, Plex CEO.”
And yet basic features for core functionality continue to go unaddressed.
Perhaps Plex should ensure that the foundation, plumbing, and electric are all up-to-code before adding another 10 floors?
Why for the love of any random deity would I want Plex to play curated news on my Plex players? If this will be used in any way to track user behavior and interests or will be mandatory and not an optional first party channel, I think I’ll be looking elsewhere for my media consumption.
Why not get the basics done right before expanding to world domination? Or wait … What in fact are the basics these days?
@eryri4x4 said:
Why do I get the feeling that in time this will be used to push “promoted” content, or items curated for you without being able to turn them off, but you can personalise the experience to make them more relevant to you by telling them what you Like or are interested in. A big data slurp and monetisation opportunity. “This personalization technology, now owned by Plex, will be used for other content in the future, says Keith Valory, Plex CEO.”
That’s exactly the feeling I’ve had ever since these new and improved hazards to navigation Plex Apps hit the Plexiverse. They’re making it nearly impossible to find anything in our own libraries, but how much do you want to bet that one day we’ll be able to find with ease ‘other and unwanted’ material from ‘Plex Partners’ - and in the continuing Plex M.O. style of ‘No Way To Turn It Off’!?
The ol’ crystal ball is showing me those nice big posters (the only ones you can read) festooned with all sorts of ‘Partner Garbage’ while our own media takes a back seat.
Yea, that fishy smell is getting fishier by the day.
JuiceWSA:
I’ve always wished plex would allow for search of the descrition field of library items, but it doesn’t. I didn’t think search had gotten worse. What’s gotten worse?
Is there any communication about the future or roadmap op Plex and where it’s going? I know Plex doesn’t comment on features of their clients but do we know what is coming for plex as a company?
I would like to know if everything will work out fine or if they are trying to become another Hulu or something so I can start to look elsewhere (with my lifetime plexpass I have little monetary influence left :))
when I read about the Watchup acquisition I get even more worried then I already was lately about the plex ecosystem. The whole external investors thing, the becoming a news platform thing, but also quotes from the new CEO like these:
The primary pain point Plex solves for content providers looking for an online video platform to help distribute their content is the lack of data provided by third-party distribution partners.
“We’re going to give you all the data you need to make sure that you understand your customers and can modify your content and essentially run your business as well as you can,” Valory said.
In addition to the data outflow, Valory said that Plex wants to provide a clearer way for providers to monetize content on Plex’s open platform by charging fees for the platform and the ecosystem as opposed to licensing agreements.
data outflow? sharing data to understand me as a customer? fees? monetize?
That doesn’t sound like they remember it is (or at least was) primarily an A+ set of programs to watch a local private library of media from sometimes dubious origin.
Reading stuff about sharing my data as a customer, or sharing my library through Plex Cloud or even sharing information with content providers, I must say that I am at least a little bit worried about privacy or the Plex Roadmap in general…but then as usual no clear explanations have been given (as far as I could find them anyway).
Those comments are a little disheartening. Had to search a keyphrase to find the interview. The full analysis doesn’t paint a better picture.
“CEO Keith Valory said it helped fulfill a content category that many of Plex’s customers have been asking for”
Um. What? Is the forum littered with posts asking for news aggregation services to be baked into Plex? Maybe there’s another section where all those requests hide that I can’t see.
I actually think that it’s reasonably clear that none of the current direction is customer-driven but rather investor driven. Which is fine, companies do that every day and flourish, as long as they’re will to shed a portion of their existing customer base (which, again, investors would be ok with assuming fiscal returns outweighed the customer drop).
“Valory says that, even though Plex is technically competing against video app giants like Netflix and Hulu, his company has differing goals that set it apart in the online video space.”
Can we infer that the goals include continuing to compete against Netflix/Hulu/etc then? In which case, perhaps it is time to start looking at an alternative because the last thing I want is a platform which puts external content (and the potential for it) front and centre and relegates the local media to a backseat.
I’ll probably just move back to XBMC and bump the home wifi with an upgrade. I’d been interested in Emby, but honestly it looks like it’s on an identical trajectory to Plex.
It’s quite interesting, really, when you consider the origin of products such as Emby and Plex to see just how far they’ve travelled from their roots - modded xboxes running XBMC. Sure, the products are incredibly well polished these days, but the intent and the boundaries pushed to get there? Lost in the mix I think
I really don’t see the business model with Plex being a content provider and would have no need for such next to Netflix, cable TV, HBO and Google play music I really don’t need another subscription based content platform. Just a home media server for which I bought a Plex pass.
So this is where my Plex Pass money has been going, instead of adding in much requested features, or even balancing feature sets across platforms they are buying another company to add in features that as I have not seen requested by anyone, yet requests that a lot of people have asked for have gone (yet again) unanswered, yet again Plex is content to sit at the back twiddling its thumbs and its competitors are making strides ahead.
If this ends up placing content ANYWHERE in my library then that is it for me, I will go back to Kodi
One of the reasons I have my own Library is to keep out the 50 tons of ■■■■■ and advertising that most stuff has, if Plex is now bringing this in (i assume to make money in the long run by selling content or ads one way or another) then its out for me
I just wish someone would comment on this officially. No hard feelings if Plex decides to take a different turn on the road we were on together, I’d just like to know it sooner rather then later so I can stop investing time in the Plex eco system and getting frustrated at the lack of progress in PMP.
I could just as easily switch to Kodi and be done with it, my samsung and LG tv’s having a native client and chromecast support in the android app are currently the only deciding factors in favor of Plex, however when I as a user will become the product and my data will be gathered and sold and feeds and suggestions will be a prominent factor in PMP / tv clients … it will be time to switch for sure. Perhaps I could make do with the plexkodiconnect plugin for a while since I hardly believe it would sync more then my library database.
Well i have been looking into the option of switching back to Kodi and found this which is great news for me: http://www.windows10update.com/2017/02/kodi-coming-windows-10-xbox-one-universal-app/
Windows 10 Universal Kodi App coming to Xbox One
At the moment I use Plex on the following: Samsung TVs, Xbox One, Android Tablet
Android Tablet - Can already have Kodi
Samsung TV - Nope but then again Plex doesnt develop the app either - they leave it to a 3rd Party
Xbox one - Kodi coming as a Windows Universal app
Since Plex dont really answer any questions that we ask I have found it extremely frustrating to try and discover what plans they have for the software and when they are going to start implementing some pretty standard features that alternatives offer (Movie Sets anyone?, Animated Posters?, Music Video Support?)
Samsung TV, Android app with Chromecast support and PMS are the only things keeping me from ditching Plex altogether at this point.
Should in any way Plex become a content company and force this on me through mandatory channels, or worse integrate it with my library as “suggestions” then I’m gone definitely and will work out something else for my Chromecast TV’s.
Add the CNN channel to channels you have news access
