It’s a bit obvious, but there are times when Google’s branding decisions are as black and white as it gets. On one hand, they’ve had brilliant successes like Gmail. On the other hand, they’ve made puzzling choices like their ever-changing messaging platforms. And now, they’ve made another confusing change with their Chromecast branding.
Previously, Chromecast referred to the hardware device that allows you to easily send content from your phone to your TV. Cast, on the other hand, was the underlying protocol that made this magic happen. However, things got a bit messy when it came to other devices that supported the Cast protocol, such as Nest speakers, Hubs, and Google TV televisions. At one point, Google emphasized that these devices had “Chromecast built-in,” as if that was a separate feature.
Recently, Google decided to scrap that approach and revert to simply using “Cast.” This branding shift is a headache for tech journalists and marketers who need to keep up with the latest terminology, but it shouldn’t make any difference to end users. The important thing is finding the Cast icon and a compatible device to stream content to. Whether Google calls it Chromecast or Cast, or whether it’s a built-in service or an external device, shouldn’t matter to the people actually using it.
