Google Lifts Only Google
by Ron Shook
on
Oct 11, 2007 at 7:26:07 pm
edit*ors,
Found this more formal blog entry through one of the industry e-mail newsletters and found it fascinating, although I have yet to sort out the implications. No one may be interested, but here it is:
Re: Google Lifts Only Google by Brian Barkley on Oct 14, 2007 at 8:33:01 am
"a rising tide lifts all boats" is a good description of what conservative Republicans believe, which is why many observers believe that J.F.K. might very well be a Republican if he were alive today. Google's 40% adverising share (and rising) is a bit over the top in this scenario.
Re: Google Lifts Only Google by Lyn Norstad on Oct 15, 2007 at 3:35:26 pm
Ron -
Interesting, and plausible. Not sure if I agree with his conslusions, however. They seema bit self-serving.
Google has instigated yet another paradigm shift in our culture, and the only way to deal with it is to ride it right along with Google, and not try to fight it.
(IMHO ... YMMV)
Regards,
Lyn Norstad
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Re: Google Lifts Only Google by Tim Wilson on Oct 15, 2007 at 5:22:14 pm
Very thought provoking article, David. I thought about it over lunch, and this is what I've got.
[Lyn Norstad]"Not sure if I agree with his conclusions, however. They seem a bit self-serving."
Definitely one problem. The author is arguing the case for the local web....when it turns out that Google is aiming for, well....Since there's not really a word for it, let me make one up.
The WORLD WIDE WEB. Get it? Not the local web. The World wide web!
Oh wait. There's already a world wide web.
I'm picking on the guy a little, but his bigger problem is the metaphor of lifting all boats. It's a paradigm shift that benefits first movers. Move late, and you don't benefit at all.
The shift is to build publishing, platforms, the advertising that supports them and the communities they drive, all on the web.
Think of it first as an advertising system. Then as an end-user system -- Google Apps. A third way to think of Google is as a giant supercomputer. And a fourth way is to think of it as a social phenomenon involving the company, the people, the brand, the mission, the values -- all that kind of stuff.
That's how he wants YOU to think about it. He says so right there.
I'm absolutely certain that that's not how THEY think about it in the long run. I'm not sure he'd even make that argument with a straight face today, only 6 months later.
Lightning round.
**The Google tide IS lifting boats. Not all, and not all that high...but lifting. Look at all those Google ads. Yes, those ads support Google...but they're all over the place because they also support all those sites. Boats raised all round.
**MSFT has provided two kinds of lift. So many stockholders got so rich that there's a name for them (Microsoft millionaires).
The more important lift over time is the lift to other companies. MSFT has millions of people in thousands of companies who are dead if MSFT much more than stumbles. They sell products and services to support the MSFT ecosystem. Those companies also have the combined resources to make sure MSFT stays in the game.
There's not a GOOG ecosystem that supports anyone but GOOG yet, and in that, the author is 100% correct.
But there's one coming. Server mfrs and infrastructure providers are among the many people salivating at the prospect of corporate wealth should GOOG execute its plan.
**I'm not a politician, but I've made metaphors for a living for a long time. Note that my problem with the original article is that the author's metaphor is wrong.
Metaphors are also why there's no way Kennedy's a republican if he's around today.
No politics here. Just metpahors.
JFK used a metaphor to lay out a premise: taxing the rich means more money in govt to provide services, spark innovation through the space race, etc. Fund government, and everyone's boat raises.
It was the exact opposite of, say, Reagan's metaphor. reducing taxes on the rich means more jobs, privatized services. Business has all the incentive for innovation it needs, thank you. Stop feeding government, and wealth trickles down.
Again, not arguing politics. Just arguing that raising boats and trickling down are metaphors forever mixed.
**Back to the beginning: raising boats misses the point.
Is the right metaphor for paradigm shift "sea change?" That's the best that I can do on short notice. The point is, boats? Boats will always be around, but they don't matter anymore.
That's why the raising boat metaphor is dead in the water. Raising boats is a metaphor that only applies if you're in the freaking HARBOR. We're MOVING here. The people who currently benefit from being on boats today will benefit more by getting off them.
Or at least getting out of the harbor.
**While we're talking about paradigm shifts and transportation, where's my dang rocket car?
Re: Google Lifts Only Google by Eric Susch on Oct 15, 2007 at 8:27:34 pm
I agree. The guy is trying but he's not quite seeing it as a total change. He's still trying to relate it too much to the way things were... grabbing eyeballs. The advertising industry isn't changing. The world is changing. (...and the advertising industry isn't.)
A side note: CAT and I just got back from the New Media Expo. There are several prominent podcasts that are really starting to explore different advertising models and make a real money making business out of "New Media," (Ask A Ninja, Diggnation, and Rocketboom are some examples.)
Anyway, it seems that the ad agencies are still stuck hard in their old paradigm, CPM (cost per thousand) and all that and not realizing that the new media landscape is totally different from radio and TV. There's a disconnect there between the content makers and the advertisers that somebody will eventually cross and make a bundle.
Back to the article: He's basically describing "the long tail" with a little dash of my new mantra there is no content there is only service. He's on the right track though especially with the Jeff Jarvis quote.
[Tim Wilson]"the raising boat metaphor is dead in the water."
How's this: The "rising boats" metaphor assumes that everyone wants to be and needs to be in a boat. The Google guys are all in planes flying over head leaving all the boats behind.
[Tim Wilson]"JFK used a metaphor to lay out a premise: taxing the rich means more money in govt to provide services, spark innovation through the space race, etc. Fund government, and everyone's boat raises."
Not sure what JFK metaphor you're talking about. I believe that JFK actually reduced taxes. I could be wrong -- I was eight when he was elected.
On the most elemental level, I use Google during almost every edit to check names, find sources of images, etc. Google has made it possible for me to work more efficiently, get finished earlier, and watch more television commercials -- I guess Google lifts even old media boats.
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