Google could be launching their own version of Periscope

With Google’s focus on live streaming becoming increasingly more apparent, the latest rumor from VentureBeat doesn’t come as much of a shock. The outlet reports Google is looking to launch a more personal live streaming service not unlike Periscope (follow us!) called YouTube Connect.

While Google already offers various forms of live streaming — such as Google+ Hangouts, YouTube live streams and the live streams you’ll see on YouTube Gaming — the supposed focus of this new platform is to be more accessible for everyone. It’s basically what apps like Periscope and Meerkat set out to do: let you quickly and easily broadcast to all your followers straight from your phone.

YouTube Connect will have a live chat during broadcasts, and your sessions can be saved for later viewing either within the app or on your YouTube channel (which we imagine is going to be the most convenient reason for current YouTubers to consider passing on Periscope).

It makes sense for Google to be deeply interested in this are. They already have the platform, and YouTube is already the biggest and most accessible video service there is, so they’re going to want to leverage that prime position to make sure they’re at the forefront of everything video in the future.