It seems that the majority of the criticism for Google's recent decision to post ads has come from representatives of other media outlets, particularly newspaper publishers. Some publishers see Google's decision as an act of competition against an already financially troubled industry. Although Google does license content from some individual news organizations, such as the Associated Press, the majority of its news depends on other news organizations that run and maintain their own sites. If you click on a link to essentially any article published by another news site, whether it be a newspaper or otherwise, you are likely to encounter at least one banner ad for any number of products. Therefore, Google's response to any criticism so far has been that Google News increases user traffic, thus making ad space more valuable for the other websites it links itself to.
If Google is damaging print news companies with their new ad placements, it seems that it could only be in an oblique way. Rather, the newspaper publishing industry's response is indicative of something that is already fairly apparent: as choices for news sources generally become more varied, newspapers' market shares are continuously decreasing. The ultimate problem that newspaper publishers have is that they are selling a product which no longer has the same demand it once did.
Whereas most media outlets and newspapers are aggregates of information and news, Google News is an aggregate of sources of information and news across a broad spectrum of topics. Google News's model affords its users a multiplicity of perspectives on various news stories. Besides this, Google news is also continuously updated - making it arguably more current than print newspapers, even if only by a couple hours to a day. Furthermore, a news source like Google News can be accessed at any time. The variety and convenience of Google News offers its audience something print newspapers cannot deliver. As long as these competing news organizations do not evolve to meet the growing demands of its prospective consumers, they will either fold or at least continue to struggle.
I think that you are correct that publishers are concerned with the competition that Google offers, however i don't that that it is competition with their print media that they are worried about. As the article indicates. these publishers are worried, with good reason, that sites like Google that compile articles from a wide variety of sources are fierce competition for the websites of different news outlets. The NYTimes for example has lost significant numbers of print readership and is now trying to figure out how to use the web to make money, so it is understable for them to worry about people using other news websites to get their news. I think that this phenomena is quite similar to the discussions we have had about TW news. The fact that most people watch the news on TV with a remote control in hand is indicative of the fact that people want to hear what various news outlets are saying - they are no longer tied to one single TV station as in the past. The same can be said for on-line news content, as more and more people look to several different news sites on a daily basis. Publishers should be worried, not just about the fact that Google has found a clever way to increase revenue, but also because Google may just be meeting a need that these other websites cannot - the need for access to a variety of new sources.
ReplyDeleteI like your blog topic because it is a subject that is very current. We are seeing everyday more and more newspapers just disappearing. What I think you can maybe add to the blog would be not just that Google now is competing with the advertisements of newspapers but that irregardless these newspapers would be going out business and maybe if there is any plan to how to keep these newspaper from going out of business. Newspapers are such an important part of a towns/city culture. I mean there needs to be something in the works to keep these papers from going under. Other than that I really like your blog.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Samantha, that what newspapers are worried about is their print, but online viewers as well. Online media is becoming a huge outlet for people to receive information. If Google is going to begin to charge for their ads this will have a significant impact on the monetary income of other media outlets such as newspapers, who still depend on the ad income. However, I think the biggest affect is going to be on those companies posting the ads on Google News, who will be getting a lot more viewers. But ultimately most people bypass that information anyway one can argue.
ReplyDeleteOK - this is a great topic that clearly relates to the new media subject that we've discussed in class, and I think you did a good job of finding this news story that adds something new to that discussion. At the same time, I think that you can emphasize some of the political aspects of the story a bit more, or perhaps offer some commentary that takes up issues of how this relates to political news more specifically, so that you have both the media AND the politics elements. Also, towards the end of your post, a few things might need to be clarified - it seems a central point here is that Google is using the news content from these other sources, but that those sources may not directly be benefiting from that financially. Some have raised this issue about a site like Huffington Post also, one that mostly aggregates content from other sources. Because this story goes beyond just Google, maybe you can also find some more information and sources and link to them, which also will demonstrate more of the benefits of the blog format, in being able to point readers to more extensive content.
ReplyDeleteI do think this story could be focused more politically to be made more relevant to class material.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, Google certainly constitutes a formidable opponent to other news organizations, though it is dependent upon them for content.
A possible solution to the disadvantage that these news organizations find themselves ta would be to form mutuallyh beneficial ties with google: Google can compile their content while the news organizations might implement Google's ad service and reap benefits from the resulting revenue and traffic.
I agree with Nadia with that your post has reflected the readlings. I think you are right when it comes with the Republican voicing their opinions. Maybe all this objectivity is just garbage and we should just go to opinion media.
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