Google Expands Movie Service to 13 Nations

Google Inc (GOOG) recently announced that it will be extending its Google Play Movies app to thirteen new nations, including Jamaica, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. This will take the tally of nations with access to the service to 27. The app will work on Google TV, Chromecast and all Android devices.

However, the availability of Google Play TV shows continues to be limited only to countries like the U.S., U.K. and Japan. The selection of movies on the app is reported to be pretty meager but is still viewed as a positive in the hope that the music, movie, streaming and service apps will eventually expand further.

Google’s expansion plan is viewed as an effort to grab as much market share as it can to battle its competitors such as Amazon.com (AMZN) or Apple Inc (AAPL).

Google is a market leader in online advertising and has been trying to explore various ways to diversify its revenues and fight competition. Google continues to acquire smaller companies with specialized technology to boost its different offerings. In Feb 2013, it acquired Channel Intelligence for $125 million to boost its e-commerce business.

Earlier this year, it acquired an infrastructure startup company, Talaria Technologies, to boost its cloud offerings. Google also acquired a mobile mapping and navigation company – Waze Inc. – for about $1.1 billion.

Google reported gross revenue of $14.89 billion in the third quarter of 2013, up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. The company has expressed its intention to increase investment in its core products in the future.

Currently, Google has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). AOL Inc. (AOL) is a better ranked stock in the technology sector with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).