Comments on: Is Google a Media Company?

By: racetalkblog.com » Jon Fine Gets Grim on Media and Use of the Word “Content”

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:49:38 +0000

[...] RT: In your eyes is Google a media company? [...]

By: Internet. » Blog Archive » Google Transformation from Just Search to Destination

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:38:42 +0000

[...] a year ago, writing for GigaOM, Robert Young posted a piece that billed Google as a media company and eventually more a destination in the classic [...]

By: Domains » Blog Archive » Google Transformation from Just Search to Destination

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:58:45 +0000

[...] a year ago, writing for GigaOM, Robert Young posted a piece that billed Google as a media company and eventually more a destination in the classic [...]

By: Google Transformation from Just Search To Destination - GigaOM

Google Transformation from Just Search To Destination - GigaOM — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:38:10 +0000

[...] Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 6:38 AM PT Comments (0) Almost a year ago, writing for GigaOM, Robert Young posted a piece that billed Google as a media company and eventually more a destination in the classic [...]

By: Michael Stone

Michael Stone — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:35:26 +0000

Google wants the Old Media Co's to ask these questions because it confuses them long enough for Google to further destroy them.

Media Company Definition: (1) Content, (2) Audience/Reach/Distribution, and (3) Ads

Google fits the classic definition. The major difference: Google follows the eeact same model but with two different important twists:

(1) They don't produce content, rather, they aggregate it - much cheaper.

(2) They monetize MUCH better through use of sophisticated ad technology while OLD MEDIA still slings untargeted banner ads ALL over the place in an embarrassing way.

By: Mike Abundo

Mike Abundo — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:41:44 +0000

And maybe not too much longer before Google starts buying programming directly itself.

That's effectively what revenue sharing will accomplish: content for cash.

By: km4

km4 — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:48:18 +0000

Is Yahoo a media company ?

Yes, and the word is Terry Semel has done a subpar job.

What is Google doing different and better ?

Can they sustain their edge and beat the snot out of the MSM ?

I hope so...

By: Lance Weatherby

Lance Weatherby — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:38:52 +0000

Google always has and always will be a media company, the old or new label does not matter. They make money selling ads. End of story.

By: Jeffrey McManus

Jeffrey McManus — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:13:30 +0000

You think it’s inevitable that one of the content providers will cave? Why? It seems far from likely to me.

YouTube has all the traffic today but that’s not necessarily a permanent state of affairs, and while a Fox/NBC YouTube knock-off may indeed suck, it will have the benefit of carrying Fox/NBC content.

By: Carson

Carson — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:07:57 +0000

Interesting way of looking at it Lars…i think you are right.

By: Lars mouritzen

Lars mouritzen — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:59:52 +0000

Google captures consumer attention and it monetises that consumer attention by selling it to advertisers. From that point of view, it is not different from any of the TV networks.

What makes Google so different is the way it deals with audience fragmentation. Online attention is fragmented across literally billions of web pages. Google has created the ability to capture each tiny fragment of attention, and hook it up with precisely the advertiser who will pay the most for that particular fragment.

However, this only works as long as we use Google to search. If we start navigating in some other way rather than search, then Google loses our attention and can’t monetise it. And that is precisely what is likely to happen in rich media, like video.

The problem with using Google to search video is that Google fundamentally relies on words. A digital video file is just a bunch of instructions for displaying pixels on a screen. Not much use to a search engine.

So how will we navigate a world with millions of hours of video? iTunes provides a clue – through recommendations, not search. “People who downloaded/ watched/ purchased this video also liked…” And if we are using recommendation and not search to navigate video, then Google is losing our attention and can’t monetise it.

To capture our attention back in the online video space, Google will have to do it the old fashioned way – by providing good content. Hence the battle to strike video deals for youTubes.

The real question therefore: Is Google changing from a new media company to an old media company.