Google invests $450 million into ADT

Monday started off with a bang in the tech world. Google made a substantial investment into ADT to commence a long term partnership. As a result, ADT stock rose 65% overnight. Google’s investment of $450 million dollars represents a 6.6% stake in ADT and the two plan on combining resources.  Both ADT and Google have also committed to $150 million each to cover the marketing costs.

The two companies will start working together to maximize smart home security. ADT has been in the home security game for a long time and Google’s nest product plans on being the benchmark for that security. This partnership will bring the Nest product to a wider range of clients across the US. ADT is one of the largest will expand its smart home monitoring to incorporate Google’s product offering.

Google’s Hardware

Google now offers a wide variety of products under its smart home umbrella. From the Hello Video Doorbell, Smoke and CO alarm, Nest Lock, and all the way to their cameras, Google seems to have hardware covered. The Nest hub or Nest Hub Max provides a great centre console to control your smart home and the Nest thermostats are well established in the market. 

My 2 Cents

I like this partnership. Google has been dancing in the smart home area for quite some time. The missing piece has always been the support and infrastructure. ADT who has a long history in security and has this infrastructure can provide the missing link. Between Google’s ease of use and integration around the house and the support of ADT, this could be a win for both people. The other issue with smart homes is that it has always been a mishmash of products. Offering a single hardware solution for the end-user will make integration and user experience much better than in the past.