* It's been a longstanding thesis of mine that Google's ability to reorder information in microseconds, based on our declared intent through a search query, has habituated us to expect an immediate and relevant response from nearly every website – and in particular, commercial sites. In time, I think this…
* It’s been a longstanding thesis of mine that Google’s ability to reorder information in microseconds, based on our declared intent through a search query, has habituated us to expect an immediate and relevant response from nearly every website – and in particular, commercial sites. In time, I think this expectation will leak into realspace as well. In this post, I explore what that might look like.
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Over the past few weeks I’ve been using what I call “The Gap Scenario” to illustrate how marketing is going to change in the next few years, in particular as it relates to the intersection of physical and digital spaces. Yes, I’m talking about Gap, the retail clothing brand, but I’m also talking about the “gap” between where we are as an industry, and where we are headed.
This is very interesting news, but not unexpected if you've been paying attention. Note in the past I've predicted that Apple will not do web search, but will do "app search," because app search is essentially broken, if you can even call it search to begin with. It's more like…
This is very interesting news, but not unexpected if you’ve been paying attention. Note in the past I’ve predicted that Apple will not do web search, but will do “app search,” because app search is essentially broken, if you can even call it search to begin with. It’s more like directory navigation at this point.
What Apple needs is a search engine that “crawls” apps, app content, and app usage data, then surfaces recommendations as well as content . To do this, mobile apps will need to make their content available for Apple to crawl. And why wouldn’t you if you’re Yelp, for example? Or Facebook, for that matter? An index of apps+social signal+app content would be quite compelling. What Apple will NOT do is crawl the entire web.
Just read this: Discovering pages “similar to” ones that you like – from the Google Blog. From it: One of the great things about the web is choice. There’s a website out there for nearly everything, and sometimes there are many sites all dedicated to a single topic. But…
One of the great things about the web is choice. There’s a website out there for nearly everything, and sometimes there are many sites all dedicated to a single topic. But how can you find all the sites that are related to the subject that interests you? This week, we launched a search feature that helps you easily find new websites that are similar to the ones with which you’re already familiar.
Next week, as part of HP’s sponsored Input/Output series, I’ll be interviewed by the folks at BigThink. Here’s the link to the webcast. I hope you’ll join. I’m proud to be part of this program, as past guests have included best selling thinkers/authors like Chris Anderson and James Surowiecki….
Here’s the link to the webcast. I hope you’ll join. I’m proud to be part of this program, as past guests have included best selling thinkers/authors like Chris Anderson and James Surowiecki. I’ve got big shoes to fill, and I need your help to fill em.
Yesterday a reporter from Cnet called and asked me a few provocative questions. He was writing a piece on Google as a marketer, and wanted my point of view. I'm not sure when his piece is coming out (or if my thoughts will be included), but our conversation helped…
Yesterday a reporter from Cnet called and asked me a few provocative questions. He was writing a piece on Google as a marketer, and wanted my point of view. I’m not sure when his piece is coming out (or if my thoughts will be included), but our conversation helped me crystalize my thinking around Google and its brand, so I figured I best get it written down.
I'm pleased to announce the agenda of our 5th CM Summit: Marketing in Real Time. I'm excited about of the mix of one-on-one interviews, hand-picked case studies, and focused discussions with leaders from major brand advertisers, agencies, and digital media companies. We've also added new networking opportunities so that conversation…
I’m pleased to announce the agenda of our 5th CM Summit: Marketing in Real Time. I’m excited about of the mix of one-on-one interviews, hand-picked case studies, and focused discussions with leaders from major brand advertisers, agencies, and digital media companies. We’ve also added new networking opportunities so that conversation is at the center of the conference.
Our early-bird pricing is available until this Friday April 23rd, soregistertoday.
The extraordinary speakers at this year’s CM Summit include (more are coming!):
Tim Armstrong – CEO, AOL*Henry Blodget – EIC, The Business Insider * Joanne Bradford – CRO, Demand Media * Deanna Brown – President and COO, Federated Media * Chris Bruzzo – VP, Brand, Content & Online, Starbucks Coffee Company * Dick Costolo – COO, Twitter * Dennis Crowley – Co-founder, foursquare * Seth Goldstein – Entrepreneur, Stickybits * Omar Hamoui – Founder & CEO, AdMob * Tariq Hassan – VP Worldwide Marketing, Imaging & Printing Group, HP * John Hayes – CMO, American Express * Curt Hecht – CEO, Vivaki * Bradley Horowitz – VP, Product Marketing, Google * Tony Hsieh – CEO, Zappos * Arianna Huffington – Co-founder & EIC, Huffington Post * Ann Lewnes – SVP of Corporate Marketing and Communications, Adobe * Bob Lord – CEO, Razorfish * Joel Lunenfeld – CEO, Moxie Interactive * Mary Meeker – Managing Director, Morgan Stanley * Mike Murphy – VP, Global Sales, Facebook * Rob Norman – CEO Group M North America, IAB * Adam Ostrow – EIC, Mashable * Amy Powell – SVP, Interactive Marketing Paramount Pictures * Avner Ronen – CEO, boxee * Chris Schembri – VP Media Services, AT&T * Hilary Schneider – Executive Vice President, Yahoo! * Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. – Chairman, The New York Times Company * Omar Tawakol – CEO, BlueKai * Tuan Tran – VP Imaging & Printing Group, HP * Ken Wirt – VP, Consumer Marketing, Cisco * Susan Wojcicki – VP, Product Management, Google * Dennis Woodside – VP, Americas Operations, Google
It's been a few days since Chirp, and I've had some time to digest all the news that broke last week. Certainly we'll have another meal this Weds. with Facebook's F8, where it's already rumored that Facebook will both reveal its new "firehose" of public data (a la Twitter) as…
It’s been a few days since Chirp, and I’ve had some time to digest all the news that broke last week. Certainly we’ll have another meal this Weds. with Facebook’s F8, where it’s already rumored that Facebook will both reveal its new “firehose” of public data (a la Twitter) as well as new approaches to monetization (see this piece from The Next Web, for example). I doubt we’ll hear that Facebook is ready to create a syndicated network on the back of Facebook Connect – a la AdSense – but one never knows, it just might.
But while we have a few days, one thing really stands out for me in Twitter’s announcements last week. As you might expect, I’m going to focus on the advertising platform, though I think the annotation and othe r news will prove important shortly, when developers figure out their true power.
But let’s focus on the money for now. To me the most interesting concept Twitter introduced last week was how they planned on tuning their ad platform to something Twitter COO Dick Costolo, in an interview with me on stage, called “the public interest graph.”
Dear Apple: We miss you. Once upon a time, back before you got real popular, you used to take part in the public square. You may have been less forthcoming than most, but at least your employees would speak at industry events, have unscripted conversations with journalists, and engage in…
Dear Apple:
We miss you.
Once upon a time, back before you got real popular, you used to take part in the public square. You may have been less forthcoming than most, but at least your employees would speak at industry events, have unscripted conversations with journalists, and engage in the world a bit here and there.
But over the past few years, things seem to have changed. You pulled out of MacWorld and began hosting your own strictly scripted events. You forbid any of your executives from speaking at any public conferences (save one victory lap with Bill Gates a few years ago). Employees blogging, posting to social networks, or offering academic papers for public comment isactively discouraged. In the words of anemployee of your one of your former partners: Apple essentially bans “things that we at companies with an open culture take for granted.”
Your relationship to the press is famously combative, thosewho do get accessstart their articles with phrases like “we fanboys are pathetic, I readily confess.” Not exactly the kind of press that pushes boundaries or keeps a company honest. And that makes us honestly nervous – we’ve seen what happens when large American corporations create cultures that worship secrecy and refuse to answer to the press. It’s not pretty.(Possibly to your credit, your CEO does seem to randomlyrespond to emails, but so far no one at Apple will actually verify his responses. Very clever, that!)
Despite the gorgeous products and services you’ve created, we worry that you’re headed down a road that may lead to your own demise. Apple is no longer the underdog living in the shadow of a Microsoft monopoly. Increasingly, Apple is a dominant player in any number of critical network services and points of control – from mobile devices to media access, payment systems to Internet browsing and advertising platforms. In short, we believe Apple is far too important to continue its role as the Howard Hughes of our industry.
So we’d like to publicly invite you to step into the light, and join us on stage at this year’s Web 2.0 Summit. The theme –“Points of Control”- is quite topical, we believe.
Yes, this invitation is certainly self-serving, but let’s just say we’re in good company when it comes to that particular instinct, and our primary goal is to serve our industry and our conference attendees.
Over the past seven years, Web 2 has become an important platform where the Internet industry has had critical, open exchanges of conversation that move the economy forward. It’s where AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts have faced their critics and countered charges of network discrimination. It’s where senior leaders at Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter debated their battle plans around real time and social search. It’s where Newscorp CEO Rupert Murdoch defended his acquisition of the Wall Street Journal, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained his approach to user privacy.
In short, Web 2 is a place where the leaders of the most vibrant industry in the world interact with 1,200 or so of their most important partners, critics, and supporters, in a forum that is open to blogging, tweeting, conversation, and debate. This debate informs and enlightens our industry, moving it forward and keeping all parties honest in the process.
Won’t you join us?
We eagerly await your response.
Sincerely,
John Battelle and Tim O’Reilly, Program Chairs and founders, Web 2.0 Summit
* It’s been a longstanding thesis of mine that Google’s ability to reorder information in microseconds, based on our declared intent through a search query, has habituated us to expect an immediate and relevant response from nearly every website – and in particular, commercial sites. In time, I think this expectation will leak into realspace as well. In this post, I explore what that might look like.
This is very interesting news, but not unexpected if you’ve been paying attention. Note in the past I’ve predicted that Apple will not do web search, but will do “app search,” because app search is essentially broken, if you can even call it search to begin with. It’s more like directory navigation at this point.
It’s been a few days since Chirp, and I’ve had some time to digest all the 
Dear Apple: