Forum Moderators: mack
also reuters is repeating [today.reuters.com] the story:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc is closing in on a deal with Microsoft Corp. to team up on an online advertising service to compete with Google Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the talks. The paper said the two companies were now focusing on a deal that would combine their advertising-related assets, with little or no money changing hands. It said they expected to reach an agreement before the end of the year, but that it was still possible that Time Warner's America Online unit could strike a deal with competitor Google instead. Time Warner has been holding talks with both Microsoft and Google over AOL, sources familiar with the situation have told Reuters and other media.
Previous threads on subject:
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I've been vocal about the recent price of Google stock (it's too high), but I like the search engine itself. It's nice to see some competition and this might be the wake up call Google needs. Maybe they can get their resources concentrating on search again.
he had no idea how to change his machine from the page that opened when he switches it on ..
and yes he does spend money on line ..
he kept asking me ..you are sure you wont break it ( AOL ) ..
Insightfull ..
plus what an icky browser ..I'd forgotten how much clutter ..
He didn't know who was providing search to AOL and was really shocked when I explained SEO ..he got the idea ..but thought that all organic serps must be of their very nature "honest" ..and that the #1 was gonna be there because it was the best ..and that SEO was sort of dishonest ..
And yet the guy knows about advertising and ad placement ROI etc ..
Just because the people here live, eat, breath, sleep and dream the net, we tend to forget that most people just DON'T.
For the VAST majority of people out there, so long as the box works when they turn it on, and does what they want it to do, they don't want to devote the brainpower to figuring out what makes it work, who owns what, etc. They have other things to worry about.
Understanding that is what has put MS on top in the past. Gates understands that the consumer doesn't want to know how the toaster works. They just want to drop in the toast, press a button, and have something to butter a few minutes later.
If the heating coils in the toaster are made by MS, or made by Google, the average consumer couldn't care less. They just want toast. So long as both coils give them toast, they're happy.
Looks like more and more are dropping Google.
I am sick and tired with google's dominance. Time for them to taste some of their own attitude.
All of that said, here we are with an ongoing battle between the Big 3. If I had my druthers, it would be a battle between about 20 SE's, with the majority being non-North American. Search is too important to have it controlled by that small group of three, all based in one country. It's classic Babylon system. So, I'll take the increased traffic from MSN for now, but I won't mind if they go t*ts-up one of these days.
Oh OK. Whie we're here: what numbers should I play for tomorrow's lottery?
"When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time."
Great move in the war of online marketing
Interesting!
But if neither side wins and competition remains that's a great outcome for us.
So only time will tell if this is good or bad news.
Google derived about 11 percent of its first-half revenue from AOL
That's a massive chunk to lose. Does anyone have any figures for this: What percentage of Google search does AOL comprise? If AOL traffic is more valuable than general Google traffic then the 11% of revenue loss could translate to 20% of traffic loss for Google? More?
Likely repercussions:
- Adwords accounts: volume of traffic from Adwords, prices per click?
- Adsense publishers: loss/gain of traffic, loss/gain of earnings almost on par with a Google update?
- change in strategies by webmasters to cater for a less internet savvy customer?
- big dip in Google shares (can't understand why that hasn't happened... 11% of revenue gone poof!)?
- musical chairs among staff of big SEs?
- effects on local search from all this traffic moving over to MSN?
- likely changes in Google's strategy as a result of losing AOL?
- possibility of MSN overtaking Yahoo sometime soon? (the main news is Time (AOL) and Microsoft getting together to take Google head on in "online advertising")
- others?
I'd be interested in knowing the community's wider vision of what this means.
Brett, later in the day reuters [today.reuters.com] seemed to be retracting the story
Oddsod is on it. If Google lose AOL, they will lose more than 11% of their revenue. When you think of the conversion of visitors to clicks, then number of page views lost will be quite significant ... certainly enough for investors to stand up and notice.
Aside from this it looks like we are now going back to the days where there was real competition. If this deal goes through we'll have Google, Yahoo and MSN all offering search and advertising. It's a fundamental shift of the powerbase.
Having said that, aren't Google still in the race for a share in AOL?
Google is still very much in the running, the sources said, contradicting Tuesday's Wall Street Journal report that said signs pointed to a deal with Microsoft.
A mod should edit the title to this thread.
Obviously Google is kicking dirt on Webmasters/SEOs face and now they just can't wait to see Google tumble. What's interesting is MSN search or another dominate player will soon topple Google, its not a matter of IF, its just a matter of when. All the biggest players have come and gone, many of them were billion dollar firms.. (looksmart, altavista, netscape) that is until their share price tanked and partners dropped out.
It's interesting to see that Google has come up with a lot of "new" services lately but most of them are interesting ideas that don't make them any money. For example, Google Maps/Satellite. How on earth are they going to make money from Satellite images?
Most people here just use Google for search and instead of concentrating on what they know best they're starting to jump into all sorts of businesses where they are not #1.
But you could also argue that Microsft only make money from Windows and Office, they lose money on everything else including Xbox.
The problem with Google's reliance on just advertising as their sole revenue stream is that the advertising industry is volatile. People need computers and office software, but they are not compelled through necessity to advertise.
This is where I think Google could have problems in the future.
Spot on - Best of luck Bill.
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>>Interesting ideas that don't make them any money.... How on earth are they going to make money from Satellite images?
Got a call from a real estate journalist last week asking if/how Google was going to impact that sector. Don't know anything about US real estate (or G's plans) but it occurred to me that if you combine Google maps (showing local services) with their "click to call" service, couldn't homeowners who wish to sell easily advertise their house privately online and pay for every sales enquiry call they receive?
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