I dont understand either.
Maybe to highlight movies,music and books too. Or maybe to ease the transition to google tv.
Either way it doesnt look like a good idea to me.
Also, it sounds funny when you need to give someone assistance...
I used to say: Please download so-and-so from the Android Market
and now? Please download so-and-so from Google Play.
Its not even a noun! It looks like a malformed sentence to me.
A case when something perfect is being collapsed because of wrong decisions of managers.
Another case is Facebook Timelines. They are so stupid to me but I was turned to Timeline by force(automatically). Old profiles used to be fair enough...
Agreed, renamed as "Google Play" they may sound rather rediculous.
However, their marketing knows exactly what it is doing considering
that the majority of users are game players and video watchers who
are attracted by the correct phrase now. It's all a matter of consumer
behavior to which Google adjust its profitability.