More on GoogleClick: It Will Be Free, And Partners Worry

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From a source who is in a position to know, news that Google's DoubleClick competitor will be ... free for all to use. Like Analytics. Think about that for a moment. How did Microsoft kill Netscape? Yup, made the browser free. How will Google try to own the entire ad serving biz? Make it free. Why would they do this? Because the most valuable thing in the world of advertising is not the commodity , it's the information the commodity will provide.

Providing a scaled ad serving solution? Free. Knowing the margins of every media and marketing company in the world? Priceless.

And who figured this out? Why, Google's partners, who have been nervous ever since the YouTube acquisition. Think about it. Newscorp was ready to sign a deal with Google for their ad server, sources tell me, but they got nervous about "the fox in the hen house." And then, what happened? Newcorp went and bought SDC, an ad serving technology and inventory optimization company. Sure makes sense now.

Hmmmmm. It just gets more and more innaresting. Note Barry Diller on Google today in an FT interview:

FT: Do you think Google has taken the right approach, has had the right attitude in its negotiations with the content creators?

MR DILLER: I don’t know. They’re an impossible situation.

FT: Why?

MR DILLER: Because they bought a company and paid fair value for it. They paid what they paid.

FT: Did they pay too much?

MR DILLER: I’m just saying, they paid what they paid. It is too early to tell, and they’ve got this wonderful site with a huge amount of traffic, and that traffic primarily is dependent upon things other people own. So, you go to them and you say, Okay, let’s make a deal. And they look at what you’ve just paid for the service itself, and say, Well, you know, we actually deserve some of that. And Google says, Well, no you don’t. So it is a very difficult tug between what is now an every hour mention, Google, in everything it does, and these people who actually own the stuff, so I’m not saying they handled it well or badly. I think it is a very tough negotiation, handled by Henry Kissinger.

My advice to Google? Don't make it free. Make it better, make it cheaper, and let those who use it own the data. Ah, hell, make it free, but let those who use it own the data and guarantee them you won't use it to your advantage. But then....why do it at all?

Hmmm.

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:30 PM
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Flickr-like Tube?

BeetTV says so:

Beet.TV has learned that You Tube will introduce new functionality to its platform tonight which will allow users to organize clips around specific categories.

Up to now, clips saved to an account or uploaded to dedicated channel are organized in what often seems a random process -- usually arranged chronologically, but not always.

The new interface will allow users to organize clips according to designated categories.

I can't imagine that such a feature was anything but "long time coming...."

Related: Gary has a list of YouTube like mobile apps...

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:54 PM
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GoogleClick

Google does not take third party ad tags. That means that if you want to advertise on Google, you have to run your creative through Google. But a huge portion of the advertising world that Google is now going after - graphical CPM ads - runs through third party ad servers like DoubleClick.

Now, DoubleClick is for sale, the WSJ reports. Actually, I've heard it's been shopped since early last year, but anyway....Microsoft is seen as an interested suitor.

Google can't let this stand. It's a major risk to its business to force advertisers to change behavior - it needs a third party ad serving solution.

So it will, without a doubt, build one. More soon.

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:51 AM
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It's Trench Warfare Now

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo... It's now a war of distribution as much as innovation. Why do I say this? Read on, a release from Google:

LG ELECTRONICS AND GOOGLE TEAM UP TO ENHANCE THE MOBILE EXPERIENCE

LG Handsets to integrate Google Search, Google Maps for mobile, Blogger Mobile and Gmail for mobile

Seoul, Korea, and Orlando, Florida March 28, 2007 - LG Electronics (LG), a leading worldwide provider of advanced wireless handsets and accessories, and Google today announced a global collaboration to pre-install Google's services on millions of LG mobile phones. Mobile users around the world will now be able to easily search for information, find locations, update blogs and manage email while on the move.

"Building on our efforts to set new standards for wireless handsets, we are excited to partner with Google to offer extra value to consumers with enhanced mobile Internet experiences,” said Mr. Paul Bae, Vice President of the Product Planning Team at LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "LG's mobile devices, combined with Google, will provide consumers with easy access to their favorite Internet services even without a PC and make it easy for them to stay connected while in motion.”

Say it with me: Distribution Distribution Distribution Distribution Distribution Distribution Distribution Distribution Distribution!

Previously in the distribution wars: Dell, Facebook, AOL, Pack....

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:41 PM
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RIP, InfoWorld

It's set to become a web site only soon, Matt tells us. InfoWorld has been around for three decades, but IT ad spending is clearly moving online, and it's hard to justify a weekly trade covering a space that lives online.

When I was running the Standard, InfoWorld was a sister publication, and a good one at that. I really hope the publication thrives online, but its owner, IDG, will have to take painful measures to make it relevant in a world where coverage is owned by online pubs and blogs already deep in the flow. The transition to online only means losing 70-80 percent of operating costs. Good luck, guys.

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:39 PM
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