Google Home makes a play for mass appeal with Super Bowl ads (GOOG)

But Google and other companies that produce voice-activated speakers appear to be making an effort to change this perception, as evidenced by the numerous Google Home ads featured during Super Bowl LI this past weekend.

This is one of the first times a large number of consumers were exposed to the Home, which could potentially drive adoption of not only the speaker, but also the smart home more broadly. Once consumers see the smart home as more than just a luxury, they'll likely begin to purchase connected devices and build out their ecosystems, especially if they already have a voice-activated speaker like the Google Home or Amazon Echo.

Here’s what Google is trying to do through its promotion of the Home:

Overall, these ads point to the role that voice can play in triggering smart home adoption. Voice-activated speakers can be found in a growing number of homes not just because of the convenience and utility they offer, but also because they're now available at lower price points — the Echo Dot, for example, retails at about $50, and the Google Home retails at about $129.99, versus $179.99 for an original Echo. Further, as device prices come down and device replacement cycles are slowly overcome, consumers could be even more willing to integrate smart home solutions into their lives, something BI Intelligence argued as early as 2015.

As the smart home continues to mature, consumers will increasingly look to pair inexpensive devices with their voice-activated speakers, a phenomenon that will fuel adoption into the mass-market phase.

The U.S. smart home market has yet to truly take off. At its current state, we believe the smart home market is stuck in the 'chasm' of the technology adoption curve, in which it is struggling to surpass the early-adopter phase and move to the mass-market phase of adoption.

There are many barriers preventing mass-market smart home adoption: high device prices, limited consumer demand and long device replacement cycles. However, the largest barrier is the technological fragmentation of the smart home ecosystem, in which consumers need multiple networking devices, apps and more to build and run their smart home.

John Greenough, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the U.S. smart home market that analyzes current consumer demand for the smart home and barriers to widespread adoption. It also analyzes and determines areas of growth and ways to overcome barriers.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the smart home market.

Google Home makes a play for mass appeal with Super Bowl ads (GOOG)

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