Category: Joints After Midnight & Rants

It’s going to be a five part series this week, here’s part one.

From it:

The largest beneficiary of online arbitrage is Google, which continues to leverage the basic behavior of people searching for things to drive ever more valuable commercial services; in fact, each Google application which leverages their core algorithmic platform effectively buys low and sells hi. This is probably why Google refuses to disclose much to investors, or why it provides far less information to advertisers than virtually any other online media network. Google does not want anybody to know how it arbs search behavior for increasing returns.

Dirson reports that Keyhole announced last week that it’s database covers the entire world in 15 meter resolution. This is not yet integrated into Google Maps, but expect it to be shortly.

An interesting round up by Mark Glaser at OJR. I just finished an interview with Mike Homer for my B 2.0 column, and I have to say, this whole space very much reminds me of the early days of search – a new frontier, many new players, lots of enthusiasm, not much understanding (yet) of how this might all play out.

I spoke to the author about all of this and he quotes me as the kicker to the piece:

CBS and other media companies are caught in a tough spot, wanting to exploit the technology and bring in ancillary income from “The Long Tail” — but are also worried that without DRM their content’s value will vaporize in a haze of file-swapping. John Battelle, author of the forthcoming book, “The Search,” and the Searchblog, says that at least now the entertainment industry sees the opportunity.

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Fun stuff.

…Here let me be more concrete, if I’ve got a 1GB memory card in my mobile phone and most of that filled with messages and media, well there’s no reason why that stuff can’t be found by a web search, no? …

…Now I go to the Yahoo Search, and click on the “social” tab (it’d be right after the image search) and I’d type in something I’m looking for. Maybe it’d be tag names or maybe it’d be something more detailed. The search engine goes through its list of mobile items and presents the results. When the user clicks on a link he likes, well it’s not to get the item right away – it’s to request it. A message goes off to the mobile repository that says something like, “Hey, remember that item you said you had available? I’d like a copy of it. Now would be preferable, but if you want you can wait until the next time you have a chance. Thanks.”….

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When I’m driving, I listen to radio. Radio is a pretty pure medium, particularly AM. I’ve always thought AM talk radio (I listen to sports radio when I’m bored with NPR, which is a lot, honestly) was a lot like blogging – you have a host who sits in the middle of a conversation, and the best ones are really good at getting the community involved. They have regulars, they have a defined area of coverage, they clearly connect to their audience. Anyway, as I was listening to AM radio on my way back from the gym, an ad for something pretty random came on. I don’t recall the ad exactly, but it felt extremely…non-endemic. After all, everyone listening is really into sports, right? (I was listening because the Giants are back in spring training, the blossoms are on the fruit trees, and all is right in the world…)

Anyway, this advertiser sent me on a reverie. Why, in all honesty, was this advertiser buying the ad space on the radio in the first place? Was it to reach men, 24-54? Yes, certainly. Was it to reach men, 24-54 with an interest in sports, and engage them in a conversation that was related to the product they were selling? No, not really, as the ad was for something else – maybe it was a mortgage refinancing offer. Was it to speak to this audience in the language they were all speaking at the point of context – the language characterized by the host? Clearly not. The ad was abrasive, a pushy come on.

So why did the advertiser buy the ad?

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I’ve riffed on it before. At a New Orleans based exhibition, an artist has taken it one step further. Wired reports.

Sullivan said he wanted to create an urn that was visually interesting, allowed some user interactivity and referenced the physical body. He decided that his remains will be integrated into a computer processor. A virtual agent running on the computer that contains his ashes will scour the web for mentions of his name. As the mentions increase, an on-screen image of Sullivan will morph into an image of his younger self. But if the mentions decline, Sullivan’s image will age, deteriorate and eventually fade away.

In the gallery, a prototype Ego Machine is presented on a computer display. Sullivan realized that since this is a project in perpetuity its results might be imperceptible during a brief visit to the gallery. To make it more interesting for viewers, Sullivan decided to allow people to consciously feed or starve his ego, either at the gallery or online.

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So I missed the Google party on Friday night at Davos, as I had to fly back for my best man’s 40th. But this fellow did not miss it. If you feel like a trip down his particular rabbit hole, read on.