Recent readings have resulted in the title: google is a paradox!
It is paradox in many ways. firstly, they lead the campaign for defending privacy, and call on the United Nations to set a universal privacy standard. However, Google's privacy policies have been under scrutiny recently, after Privacy International accused Google of being "hostile to privacy".
Secondly, Google has a widely known corporate slogan "don't be evil", but some accuse the search engine of being submissive to the Chinese government and being "doing evil".
Thirdly, Google has got a brand enforcement team, which is responsible for any other party use the brand or logo of Google without "express written permission". A London-based blogger, Frank Fuchs, said Google had ordered him to stop using its trademarked logo on his Web site. But Google itself has been the target of many copyright and trademark lawsuits, such as the Google library project, and the lawsuit filed by Viacom, AFP, and AmericanAirlines.
Google is really self-contradictory. Perhaps that is what Google is about.
Showing posts with label new media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new media. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Vote for Google bid for open wireless spectrum
I will stand for Google's campaign for open wireless spectrum!
Guardian reported today that the dotcom group has looked likely to enter the US wireless market after the US regulator agreed to change the way it plans to sell off part of the airwaves in November.
There has been growing speculation on whether Google will launch its own mobile phone, like Gphone, or Google simply wants to use the wireless spectrum for his WiFi project which will enable more people to be online at any time and at any place.
But whatever direction Google will go in, I am most interested in the implications for its entry into the wireless market.
In the United States, the wireless spectrum has long been dominated or monoponized by the telecom operators, like AT&T or Verizon. Consequentially, when Iphone is launched, it has to be tied to the operator AT&T, as anybody who buys Iphone must sign up for the network provided by AT&T for at least two years. Such exclusive contract is nothing but anti-competitive. Unfortunately AT&T can't provide the best service, which has affected the sales of Iphone, and lead to the drop of Apple's shares.
So Google bid for an open wireless spectrum will challenge the current monopoly. Though the wireless operators will resist, the wind appears not to blow in their way.
I will stand for Google's wireless bid, and hope to see it does that not just in the United States, but in other markets as well.
Guardian reported today that the dotcom group has looked likely to enter the US wireless market after the US regulator agreed to change the way it plans to sell off part of the airwaves in November.
There has been growing speculation on whether Google will launch its own mobile phone, like Gphone, or Google simply wants to use the wireless spectrum for his WiFi project which will enable more people to be online at any time and at any place.
But whatever direction Google will go in, I am most interested in the implications for its entry into the wireless market.
In the United States, the wireless spectrum has long been dominated or monoponized by the telecom operators, like AT&T or Verizon. Consequentially, when Iphone is launched, it has to be tied to the operator AT&T, as anybody who buys Iphone must sign up for the network provided by AT&T for at least two years. Such exclusive contract is nothing but anti-competitive. Unfortunately AT&T can't provide the best service, which has affected the sales of Iphone, and lead to the drop of Apple's shares.
So Google bid for an open wireless spectrum will challenge the current monopoly. Though the wireless operators will resist, the wind appears not to blow in their way.
I will stand for Google's wireless bid, and hope to see it does that not just in the United States, but in other markets as well.
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
Media Symbiosis
The talk on new media threat to older media is less and the buzz on new media opportunity is louder.
Yesterday BBC Director General Mark Thompson told the BBC Trust AGM that they have explored new ways of reaching audience through cooperation with the YouTube, the popular social networking website. Thompson even talked up the prospect of finding talents for the BBC from those who upload video clips to YouTube.
The BBC has had a popular website in BBC.com, but the visits to the YouTube have overtaken those to the BBC website. Besides, the BBC audience has been mostly in the middle-aged group, and the broadcaster needs to reach more younger groups through such popular social networking website as YouTube. It is one of the ways that the broadcaster could remain relevant in the digital and multi-channel age, and continue justifying the license fee when people are pampered by the availability of more than one hundred channels and various platforms.
BBC is never alone in their bid to tap the new media opportunities, as another UK broadcaster BSkyB also reached a deal with Google in December 2006, under which Google will provide BSkyB with technology so it can offer email and internet telephony to customers of its fledgling broadband product. Google, which paid $1.65bn (£840m) for YouTube in October, is also licensing its video search and sharing technology, which Sky will use to set up its own user-generated content site.
On the other side, Google has never limited its ambition to the online world, instead it has aimed to expanded to the offline world and explored new ways for targeted and measurable advertising.
Through the deal with the BSkyB, Google will be able to move into TV advertising. Google is looking to use information about viewing habits, which can be obtained through the broadcaster's set-top boxes, to produce more targeted TV advertising. Eventually, marketing experts could tailor campaigns to specific viewers, even storing adverts on the set-top box itself. In addition, the company has also launched trials with other offline media like launching the radio advertising and placing classified ads in newspapers.
Yesterday BBC Director General Mark Thompson told the BBC Trust AGM that they have explored new ways of reaching audience through cooperation with the YouTube, the popular social networking website. Thompson even talked up the prospect of finding talents for the BBC from those who upload video clips to YouTube.
The BBC has had a popular website in BBC.com, but the visits to the YouTube have overtaken those to the BBC website. Besides, the BBC audience has been mostly in the middle-aged group, and the broadcaster needs to reach more younger groups through such popular social networking website as YouTube. It is one of the ways that the broadcaster could remain relevant in the digital and multi-channel age, and continue justifying the license fee when people are pampered by the availability of more than one hundred channels and various platforms.
BBC is never alone in their bid to tap the new media opportunities, as another UK broadcaster BSkyB also reached a deal with Google in December 2006, under which Google will provide BSkyB with technology so it can offer email and internet telephony to customers of its fledgling broadband product. Google, which paid $1.65bn (£840m) for YouTube in October, is also licensing its video search and sharing technology, which Sky will use to set up its own user-generated content site.
On the other side, Google has never limited its ambition to the online world, instead it has aimed to expanded to the offline world and explored new ways for targeted and measurable advertising.
Through the deal with the BSkyB, Google will be able to move into TV advertising. Google is looking to use information about viewing habits, which can be obtained through the broadcaster's set-top boxes, to produce more targeted TV advertising. Eventually, marketing experts could tailor campaigns to specific viewers, even storing adverts on the set-top box itself. In addition, the company has also launched trials with other offline media like launching the radio advertising and placing classified ads in newspapers.
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