In an interview with I Want Media, John Batelle, co-founder of Wired magazine, founder of the Industry Standard, and author of a new book, “The Search,” describes what he calls “intent attached marketing.”
Search has created a new attachment point for marketing. Marketers are used to the idea of attaching their messaging to content. For example, if you want to speak to women age 34 to 54, you need to buy your media and attach it to, say, “Oprah.” This is how magazines work, this is how television and radio work, this is how most Web sites work.
Search has created something that I call “intent attached marketing.” You’re not buying content attachment, you’re buying attachment to the intent as declared by a consumer. So if I’m interested in a Chrysler minivan, I go to Google and enter “Chrysler minivan. The sponsored link at the top of the search results page is Chrysler.com. And on the right-hand side are top Chrysler prices from CarPriceSecrets and CarMax, among other sites.
The point here is that I declare my intent into this engine, and the engine then organizes content for me. But the marketing is not attached to the content; the marketing is driven by the intent. It’s a shift in how marketing works. And it’s making publishers very nervous.Posted by Mitch Shapiro at 6:14 PM | Print | Comments (0)
With a spate of developments infringing on First Amendment rights, it’s about time the right to free speech got its own week. The National Association of Broadcasters and The Media Institute announced today they are launching the first annual National Freedom of Speech week, October 17 - 23.
Other groups participating in the promotion of free speech during the week include the American Association of Advertising Agencies, American Bar Association, Americans for the Arts, National Constitution Center, and National Endowment for the Humanities. The broadcasters have pulled together PSAs that will run throughout the week and the two groups have tossed out ideas for local events to highlight free speech.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 4:50 PM | Print | Comments (0)At ZDNet, Dana Gardner, principal analyst of Interarbor Solutions weighs in on the Sun-Google alliance:
Sun’s strengths and Google’s interests do align really well, on the back end and the client…What’s most important, however, is that the new, albeit nebulous, tightness between Sun and Google is ultimately very good for enterprise IT budget mavens. It is no longer remote of feasibility nor far-off in time and space that low-cost, high-quality, high-reliability baseline workgroup productivity applications and voice and data communications together as subscription services become available. And just in time so that CFOs can do a thorough cost-benefit analysis against next year’s Vista-Office 12 “connected systems” approach rollout.
…Java Runtime Environment on the desktop gets a life-sustaining shot of vitamin B-12, while OpenOffice-StarOffice might well become the R&D replacement and speed-to-market turbo-charge that Google needs to leap out front in the race to redefine the client computing-as-service experience…
…Now, who needs to worry most about Sun and Google making happy-face? I say it’s the voice and data networks providers, the Verizons, Sprints, SBCs, BTs, MCIs, BellSouths, and France Telecoms. Because if Sun+Google=Voice and Data Efficiencies as a service stream, aka Webtone, par excellence, on a global scale, then who are you gonna call when you need business services?Posted by Mitch Shapiro at 4:40 PM | Print | Comments (0)
The Sun-Google announcement certainly wasn’t as big or clear as many had speculated, so its not too surprising that views on its significance were pretty varied (here’s a video of the press conference):
Here’s Om Malik’s take:
The Google-Sun announcement in the end turned out to be nothing…. or as someone just said on the IM. “Let’s do something useless so we can say we did something so Sun can get some press because we’re dying slowly…” Harsh but true, given all the speculation, which was nothing more than chatter of the worst kind. All of us are looking for shapes in shadows, including me… sigh! call me slow, but I am not sure how AP is coming up with the Open Office conclusion with this JRE announcement.
Forrester analyst Charlene Li acknowledges that “After all of the hype over the past day, the actual announcement between Sun and Google was pretty subdued.” But she still saw some things of substance:
First, JRT is used in many consumer applications, especially in music and entertainment. The fact that Windows does not ship with JRT means that each time consumers try to initiate an application that uses Java, it checks to make sure that it has the latest version. If not, the app directs the user to java.com for the download. Voila! You’ll get Google Toolbar as one of the things to download. And we understand that the Toolbar download will be “opt-out” meaning that the default will be to download Toolbar and that users have to take decline the download…
…Second, is the “explore” option of attaching Toolbar to OpenOffice. John and I suspect that the reason they didn’t come right out and say that Toolbar would also be downloaded with OpenOffice is because they haven’t reached an agreement yet on how much Google should be paying Sun - or vice versa…
…Third, there’s an unspoken opportunity here for Sun’s core business - selling hardware. Google has built thousands of its own servers and is one of the biggest users of Linux. We believe that at some point, Google will be under pressure to finally outsource that server manufacturing to someone like Sun…
…Lastly, you gotta wonder about the possibilities of the largest search engine teaming up with the largest proponent of open source. Google is eager to offer non-Windows non-Microsoft Office options that it can be a part of, while Sun needs that strong, consumer distribution to move the open source revolution out of the enterprise.Posted by Mitch Shapiro at 4:13 PM | Print | Comments (0)
Though Google’s free WiFi proposal in San Francisco is arguably more radical in its implications, Philadelphia selection of Earthlink’s proposal, reported today by the Wall Street Journal, also represents a significant step toward developing new broadband access models. All the more so since it is coming from a large and respected independent ISP that has long wanted an alternative to dependence on telco or cable wholesale deals as its avenue for broadband growth.
In the Philadelphia program, the high-speed service will be available for free in parks and other public places. To get wireless broadband at home, low-income families in the city will be charged $10 a month, while all other households will be charged $20 a month.
Philadelphia earlier had narrowed its choices to EarthLink and Hewlett-Packard Co. EarthLink was chosen because it will share revenue with Wireless Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization working with the city to promote broadband access, said Dianah Neff, a city spokeswoman.
Bambi Francisco quotes Earthlink vp of development and planning Bill Topegin:
“The free model from a historical perspective is not a successful one,” Tolpegin said, pointing to the beginnings of NetZero and United Online. Both companies offered free service, but eventually had to merge to survive. Now, they’re charging, he said. “Is one model set to dominate the nation? I think there are different models.”
Bambi says she agrees with Tolpegin about there being room for multiple models. On the ad-supported front, she cites Feeva, which has developed software to target advertisements based on location and has set up a free WiFi service at a few locations in San Francisco, a project that includes Google as a sponsor.
The project is designed to show the city that free access can attract users, and usage, and ultimately advertising, said [Nitin Shah, Feeva CEO and co-founder]. The location-based advertising has yet to be turned on in Union Square, because the goal is to first see if users want free access, according to Shah. So far Feeva is serving thousands of users per month. Then when Feeva can show the city that users have signed up, the next step is to test out the targeted service.Bambi also gives an example of how location-based WiFi services might work as a utility, including “a number of kinks to work out.”
Say, I want to find a store that sells men’s shoes around Union Square in San Francisco. If I go to Union Square and turn on my laptop, I can get access to the Internet via Google. By searching for men’s stores in that area, eventually, I can get targeted ads sent to me from stores in that surrounding area. Some ads may say: “We’re closing in 30 minutes, so better walk a couple blocks north to Bob’s shoes and get those brown leather loafers you’re looking for.”
This might have sounded like an annoyance to me, before my recent experience. Early last week, I was looking for stores that sold men’s shoes in that area. I was proactive about my search - asking my male colleagues and searching online. It took some time to get all the information - location and closing time - as part of my search. By the time I got to Union Square, there were many stores that I didn’t even think of.
Hence, targeted advertisements would have actually made my quest much easier. Of course, I’d have to be located in Union Square, in theory. To be sure, there are a number of kinks to work out. For instance, I can’t fit my laptop in my purse, so I wouldn’t have turned on the computer while I was there. Additionally, it’s unclear whether privacy groups would be up in arms about this invasive type of advertising.Posted by Mitch Shapiro at 1:18 PM | Print | Comments (0)
CNET’s News.com’s Stephanie Olsen has a piece on San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s high-profile proposal to deliver Wi-Fi across the city, made even more visible by Google’s offer to deliver the wireless broadband option at no charge to users. Neither Newsom nor Chris Vein, who is heading up the project for Newsom, would offer much detail on the bids received so far, but Newsom did say privacy is an issue. Google plans to support its Wi-Fi service by selling ads.
The project is on a fast-track. Newsom’s office is forming a committee that will make recommendations within three weeks. The project is slated to be up and running in 2006, with construction possibly starting as soon as six months from now.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:23 AM | Print | Comments (0)CNET’s News.com has a very cool visual tool on muncipal broadband that is hard to describe but must be seen. It’s a clean graphic map of stories, topics and companies dealing with the issue of municipal broadband. Radiating out from one “center,” an article on Google’s bid to offer free Wi-Fi in San Francisco, which is the anchor story for this graphic, are links to other articles on the subject.
I don’t know if this is actually helpful to people who want to know more about the topic, but it is definitely cool.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:15 AM | Print | Comments (0)
Blogs We Read
