The MySpace Platform

Facebook, watch out, the big guys are in the house...having MySpace launch a platform means real competition, and that is good for folks who were worried about Facebook changing the game on them once revenue became a reality.

• Posted by John Battelle at 11:11 AM
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O'Hairy

Remember when I ranted about O Hare airport? Well, at 5.15 this morning, a lovely time to be in a car on my way to SFO, I was informed that my flight was summarily cancelled.

The weather, in a word, blows. So I am not in Chicago, seeing clients. I'm at home, wondering if I can get to Chicago at all...posting should be heavier than I thought!

• Posted by John Battelle at 11:07 AM
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Yahoo: Take the Data

The WSJ is reporting that Google CEO Eric Schmidt reached out to Yahoo's Yang:

Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt called Yahoo Inc. CEO Jerry Yang to offer his company's help in any effort to thwart Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, say people familiar with the matter.

This help would come, of course, in the form of Yahoo being assimilated into the great Google paid search machine. This would make both Yahoo and Google tons of money, to be sure. But Yang already decided against this late last year:

Yahoo executives had considered such a maneuver as part of a strategic review last year, according to people familiar with the matter, but Mr. Yang in October had signaled that it had decided against it.

"We believe having a principal position in both search and display advertising is critical to creating...long-term shareholder value," Mr. Yang told analysts during Yahoo's earnings conference call in October.

Why does he believe it? The secret is in the data. Having paid search data - who clicks on what, when, and where they go - is critical to having better display advertising offerings. Losing that data to Google would hurt Yahoo's business.

So...perhaps Jerry should call Eric back, and suggest that they do a deal that includes that data....

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:53 AM
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And Microsoft Says You Must Be Kidding, Google

Punch, counterpunch. Someone tell the chief counsels to shut the f. up. More than three quarters of this Microsoft response is legalese. Please.

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:01 PM
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Google Slams Microsoft

In a blog post that will be its only response, according to an email I was sent, Google fires pretty much everything it has at the Microsoft/Yahoo deal.

... Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and

illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the
Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to
establish proprietary monopolies -- and then leverage its dominance into
new, adjacent markets.

Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft -- despite its legacy of
serious legal and regulatory offenses -- to extend unfair practices from
browsers and operating systems to the Internet? In addition, Microsoft plus
Yahoo! equals an overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email
accounts. And between them, the two companies operate the two most heavily
trafficked portals on the Internet. Could a combination of the two take
advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of
consumers to freely access competitors' email, IM, and web-based services?
Policymakers around the world need to ask these questions -- and consumers
deserve satisfying answers.

This hostile bid was announced on Friday so there is plenty of time for
these questions to be thoroughly addressed. We take Internet openness,
choice and innovation seriously. They are the core of our culture. We
believe that the interests of Internet users come first -- and should come
first -- as the merits of this proposed acquisition are examined and
alternatives explored.

• Posted by John Battelle at 12:13 PM
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Media M&A; Indeed Picks Up

Amazon Audible. MSFT Yahoo. Yahoo Maven. And on and on it goes.....

• Posted by John Battelle at 10:27 AM
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The Other Shoe Drops On Yahoo

It's become an old saw - Microsoft will bid for Yahoo, because neither company can figure out how to crack the Google code. Now that it's happened, will it ... happen?

(PS, did you catch the reference to the project here?)

My previous coverage of this includes a prediction it'd happen in 2007 (nice timing), and a modest proposal the two companies join their search efforts. Here's my interview with Steve Ballmer at Web 2 last year, where this topic certainly comes up.

I'm still not sure this works. I don't see how the two cultures merge. But perhaps that's not the point. Perhaps at the end of the day, Yahoo becomes Microsoft's long half-hearted media arm, and the folks in Redmond can finally stop worrying about what their focus is. As I wrote back in May 07, perhaps it's time for Microsoft to be more like GE.

More later...

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:26 AM
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Google....Disappoints

Google is down to nearly 520 in afterhours trading after its earnings failed to surprise to the upside and/or meet higher expectations on Wall St. Ouch. From 750 to 520 in a few months...

• Posted by John Battelle at 2:05 PM
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Q&A; With Marissa Mayer

Venturebeat has an interesting Q&A with Marissa up, in it she points toward social search as a major area of development for Google.

She hints Gmail may be used to identify your friends, using their search history to influence search results for you and those in your social network. While this network would likely first be built on Gmail contacts, Marissa wouldn’t rule out importing friends from third-party networks down the road.

I think Google is struggling to figure out its approach here. Should it build a "traditional social network" like Facebook or Orkut? Should it simply be a directory, and provide a platform instead (like Open Social)? What about indexing and crawling all this social content? Will it prefer its own content?

The plot thickens.

• Posted by John Battelle at 11:17 AM
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It's Not Fair, But Google, You Are A Media Company

Sorry, it's just true. IWantMedia: David Eun: Google Won't Become a Media Company.

It's not fair in that I am on the road and can't write my full defense of this. But I understand why Google claims to not be a media company, in terms of not being, say, the New York Times. But...that doesn't mean it doesn't threaten the core underpinnings of what makes a great media company. Is that a bad thing? No. But it's not accurate to say Google isn't a threat.

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:12 PM
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Yahoo Earnings

Overall, not bad on its O&O properties, but shakiness in its parnter programs, including ATT and YPN/Panama, where Wall St. hoped they'd hear strong upward guidance. Instead, they heard that Yahoo is going to have another "transition year" in 2008, which sent the stock down. PC coverage.

• Posted by John Battelle at 4:44 AM
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More Travlin'

I am about 2/3rds of the way through what is one of the most brutal travel stretches I've had in quite some time, that's why posting is light, but the learning is great...

• Posted by John Battelle at 4:52 PM
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And the Interface Evolves

...toward conversational interfaces....news from Google acknowledging that ten blue links is getting old (we knew that, so did Google, but...):

There have been a lot of recent improvements to web search, but the appearance of results themselves has been pretty constant -- 10 or so web pages in a vertical list. Frequently this is exactly the right format, but for some searches you need more options and more control. That's why we've created our experimental search page to let you try out some of our newest ideas.
You may have noticed our "alternative views" experiment showcased last May. This lets you visualize your search results in new ways, and we'd like to highlight some of the features we've recently added.

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:53 PM
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The Government Should Get Into the Payment Game

Do you have government-issued payment technology? A tracking device that is tied to your bank account or credit card, that allows you to pay for stuff without the hassle of transaction friction? Chances are, if you are a commuter, you do. I've got one in my car, an image of it is above.

I love my FasTrak. It lets me whiz through the numerous bridge toll booths dotting the Bay Area. But recently, FasTrak did something very important - it cut a deal with the San Francisco Airport, a deal that allows folks with FasTrak to pay for airport parking using their selfsame FasTrak device.

Pretty obvious, no? Well, no, in fact. I'm sure cuttting this deal was fraught with all the red tape and political hazards typical of local government.

But it got me thinking. I have a FasTrak device in my car. I have connected that device to a trusted payment service (a credit card, in my case). Why shouldn't the local government leverage that fact, and get into the payment biz? It's a great business (just ask MasterCard or Amex), it pays well, and it's a service I'd trust FasTrak to get right, because they've built significant brand equity with me over the past few years.

We have a major budget crisis here in California, and everyone is pointing fingers, arguing about which programs should get cut, and hoping that we can gamble our way out of the problem (no, really). What about the government *actually providing a valuable service,* one we'd all be willing to pay a bit for?

I know, I know, it'd cut into the credit card companies' business, but, jesus, tough shit, guys. California is in the pole position here, and should leverage it. Miniaturize the FasTrak, add a modal button (ie, when I press on it, it activates) and some security software, and then roll it out at grocery stores, gas stations, shit, everywhere you can buy a lottery ticket for that matter. The brilliant angle is this: while tons of retailers have tried this, no one wants a walled garden approach (ie, I can use this key fob for gas, that key fob for Safeway, etc.). The government can set an open standard, create a development platform...you all know the rest.

And take a 1-2.5% cut from retailers. I, for one, would love it.

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:50 PM
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Chuck Norris Is Hiding

First result for Googling "find Chuck Norris" and hitting "I'm Feeling Lucky."

(thanks, David)

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:36 PM
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Respect Talent, No, Wait, Screw That, Talent Wins

Dave Winer has a good post about how talent - in particular, writers and "content creators" - have forever had a raw deal from corporations who profit on the back of the creators' work. Dave posits that this is about to change, thanks to many trends, including the commoditization of distribution, means of production, and audience aggregation (well, I may have added that last one).

I certainly agree change is in the wind, and started FM on the premise that independent creators of great sites on the web deserve not only the majority of the revenue fostered by their work, but complete control over their intellectual property to boot. Well said, Dave.

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:49 PM
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Save eBay With Search?

That's Saul's take after a quick conversation with incoming CEO John Donahoe. But wait...we've seen this movie before...

• Posted by John Battelle at 12:19 PM
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I Disagree, Google

Google has come out with a policy around political ads on its sites, and I commend it for transparency and setting a level playing field. But I disagree with the policy. Why? Well, to quote a portion of its post on the policy:

No attacks on an individual's personal life. Stating disagreement with or campaigning against a candidate for public office, a political party, or public administration is generally permissible. However, political ads must not include accusations or attacks relating to an individual's personal life, nor can they advocate against a protected group. So, "Crime rates are up under Police Commissioner Gordon" is okay, but "Police Commissioner Gordon had an affair" is not.

I understand why Google took this course, but I have to say, it's part of an ongoing sanitization of our political life that, in the end, pushes all of politics toward whitewashing and dishonesty. It's far easier to say "no personal attacks" than it is to say "no false statements". But in my mind, accuracy is far more important in public debate than some subjective sense of what constitutes a personal attack. These are public figures, after all, and let's be honest: we vote for folks we feel we can trust. How will we know them if we don't know the truth? Sure, scandalous stuff is often scurrilous, but the first amendment is clear on speech: all speech, in particular, all public speech, must be allowed, so that the real truth can be assessed by an informed public. We don't need Google, or anyone else, sanitizing it for us.

Just my two cents.

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:55 PM
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MapReduce

You know PageRank, you should know MapReduce. And as a side note, man, it's great to see a true geek write the way this fellow does. What a pleasure to read!

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:41 PM
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GOOG Makes a Comeback

The support for GOOG came out today, the stock clearly felt oversold yesterday. It closed today at 574, up nearly 5%. A commentor noted on my post from earlier in the week that Google has an unusual program that keeps its options in the clear despite being underwater. Wonder where that charge might show up in the SEC reporting?

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:38 PM
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