Google has purchased Twitter movie recommendation service Fflick today for $10 million, with the deal expected to close by the end of the month.
Fflick uses Twitter “sentiment” to rate movies, showing positive and negative comments, as well as how many people are Tweeting about a certain film.
For example, on the front page is “The Green Hornet,” which is showing an 81 percent “like” rating on 66,000 tweets.
By signing in with your own Twitter account, you can see comments from anyone in your own network.
Furthermore, you can use the service to buy tickets, add movies to your Netflix queue, and retweet any post you see.
It is unclear what Google will use the service for.
Result for: netflix
Google is currently in talks with Filmyard Holdings in an effort to purchase the digital rights to Miramax’s extensive movie archive.
The rights would help Google give YouTube a larger collection of feature-length content, which it currently lacks.
Miramax has over 700 films in its catalog.
Although unconfirmed, Netflix has been said to be in talks with Miramax, as well, trying to secure the rights to add the library to its “Watch Instantly” streaming service. Netflix currently offers 20,000 movies and TV shows.
Miramax was just sold earlier this year by Disney for $660 million.
YouTube has said recently that 36 hours of video are posted every minute to the video sharing site.
Result for: netflix
Engadget has posted this weekend that Netflix is already testing a streaming-only plan for U.S. subscribers.
For $7.99, the streaming-only plan will give users a chance to watch 15,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” catalog.
Users will not get any physical media rentals in the mail, however, if they choose the plan.
Mixed plans that offer unlimited streaming and 1-disc-out at a time currently cost subscribers $10 per month.
CEO Reed Hastings had implied that the streaming-only model has been very successful in Canada and so they have accelerated plans for the U.S. version.
