1 Comment on WashPost Switches to Yahoo
WashPost Switches to Yahoo
Gary notices it first……
Gary notices it first…
Month: June 2005
Yahoo Getting Into Voice…
Om has the scoop……
Om has the scoop…
Google To Expand Video Search on the Web
Stefanie has the goods at Cnet. Google's planned service will let visitors find free short-form videos such as the popular "Star Wars" video spoofs, according to sources who asked to remain anonymous. The engine will complement the search giant's existing experimental site that lets people search the closed-caption text…
Stefanie has the goods at Cnet.
Google’s planned service will let visitors find free short-form videos such as the popular “Star Wars” video spoofs, according to sources who asked to remain anonymous. The engine will complement the search giant’s existing experimental site that lets people search the closed-caption text of television shows from PBS and CNN, among others, and preview accompanying still images. The new capabilities will let people watch roughly 10 seconds of Web video clips for free before shuttling visitors to the video’s host site, sources say.
Sources said the new video search engine will be unveiled within the next two months.
Confernce and Travel Make for Light Posting
I'm at Safa Rashtchy's Internet conference this week, posting may suffer as I soak up the knowledge here….
I’m at Safa Rashtchy’s Internet conference this week, posting may suffer as I soak up the knowledge here.
Blodget on Google’s Value
Interesting take from the fellow who made the famous Amazon $400 call. Net net: Google's valuation makes sense, but diversification in coming years is key to maintaining it. The simplest way to frame the relative valuation question is to ask whether Google’s existing and future assets will generate more…
Interesting take from the fellow who made the famous Amazon $400 call. Net net: Google’s valuation makes sense, but diversification in coming years is key to maintaining it.
The simplest way to frame the relative valuation question is to ask whether Google’s existing and future assets will generate more future cash than Time Warner’s existing and future assets. If one assumes that Google’s only significant revenue stream will be search, this seems a stretch: search may be mind-boggling, but it’s hard to believe it will generate more cash than television, magazines, cable, movies, and AOL combined. When one also factors in the value of Google’s traffic, brand, and market cap, however, the proposition seems reasonable. In 1998, when online “bookseller” Amazon surpassed Barnes & Noble’s $2 billion market cap, many deemed this absurd. Now, with Amazon selling everything under the sun, the disparity between its $15 billion and Barnes & Nobles’ $2.5 billion couldn’t seem more sane….
So Google investors can safely ignore the hysterical Time Warner comparisons. What they can’t ignore is the risk that, at some point soon, search growth will decelerate and Google’s FCF multiple will compress as momentum investors race for the doors.
MSN Bans “Democracy” in China
Slashdot chews through it. From MSN's own news feed: Microsoft's new Chinese internet portal has banned the words "democracy" and "freedom" from parts of its website in an apparent effort to avoid offending Beijing's political censors….
Gannett, Pointroll, and All That
One of the oldest push/pulls in the journalism game has to do with what business you're in – is it editorial, or is it advertising? Ask a publishing exec this question, and you'll usually get the same answer: News. But pick that answer apart, and pay attention to what…
One of the oldest push/pulls in the journalism game has to do with what business you’re in – is it editorial, or is it advertising? Ask a publishing exec this question, and you’ll usually get the same answer: News. But pick that answer apart, and pay attention to what publishing execs do, rather than what they say, and you often notice a distinct lean toward the “advertising” part of the equation. “Content” is the draw for audience, and audience is what the publisher is selling.
Which is why I found Gannett’s recent purchase of PointRoll an interesting move. PointRoll is an innovator in online advertising, so the analysis, at first, seems pretty obvious: Gannett, a mainly old media company, is making a play to be relevant in the new media world.
But if that were the case, why isn’t it buying content companies, like, er, Salon or something? Because content companies are not growing the way advertising companies are. PointRoll is on a roll; according to reports I’ve seen the company is growing at 40% a year.
Read MoreWeb 2.0 v. 2.0: Your Input Needed
Last year around this time (well, a bit later, we were running a bit late…) I posted a plea for input on the new conference I was to chair called Web 2.0. You responded in spades, and it really helped me figure out a spectacular program, one that I…
Last year around this time (well, a bit later, we were running a bit late…) I posted a plea for input on the new conference I was to chair called Web 2.0. You responded in spades, and it really helped me figure out a spectacular program, one that I am still quite proud of.
This year we’re doing it again, and again I need your help, your input, and your ideas. The conference will again be in San Francisco October 5-7, this time at the Argent Hotel, and once again I am teaming with Tim O’Reilly and MediaLive to produce the event.
The program for the sophomore edition of Web 2.0 is inspired by the simple observation that while last year was all about declaring the web as a platform for new and innovative business models, this year it’s all about showing what can be done on that platform, and uncovering the innovative companies, ideas, and models from which all of us can learn. I’m (loosley) focusing on three areas that are truly taking off in 2005: Media & Entertainment, Communications (ie, the Web goes mobile and swallows telecom along the way), and the Web as OS.
Read MoreNYT Search Sunday
Fallows complains that search is not very good at answering sophisticated questions (no kidding) and a Times reporter wonders if Google is worth $300 a share (answer: no answer. From the article: "Is it a price worth paying? Sure, if it really is different this time."…
Fallows complains that search is not very good at answering sophisticated questions (no kidding) and a Times reporter wonders if Google is worth $300 a share (answer: no answer. From the article: “Is it a price worth paying? Sure, if it really is different this time.”
Mobile’s Inching Closer to Web Models
One of my favorite current gripes is how the mobile world lives in a walled garden, and fails at the basic test: Can I build on my mobile device what I can build on the web? I'm not talking about pure functionality, of course, I understand that there are…
One of my favorite current gripes is how the mobile world lives in a walled garden, and fails at the basic test: Can I build on my mobile device what I can build on the web? I’m not talking about pure functionality, of course, I understand that there are device- and context-specific constraints. I’m talking about presumptive ecologies here – the web is open, mobile is closed. That means you have to go through carriers to get anything done, or have a business model of any kind. That means development is limited, and, well, mobile apps are constrained.
This could be changing. SEW notes that Yahoo has signed a deal with Mobile Commerce to provide keyword ads for a WAP-based travel search play. Not exactly revolutionary, but it shows the bleeding over of web-based models (paid search) into the mobile space. I am not very mobile savvy, but I yearn for the day I can have a device which has, at its core, the equivalent of “Naked DSL” built in, so folks can deliver cool applications and business models to my mobile device without having to cut Verizon, Sprint, or someone else in on the deal. Will it ever happen?