One thing I know about best friends: They're not made overnight. That's what struck me so oddly about about this comment, reported by Editor & Publisher:
"We want to be your best friends." That's what Google's Director of Print Ads Tom Phillips said, on behalf of Yahoo and Microsoft also, at an afternoon panel on "partnerships in transition" during the Newspaper Association of America's annual conference here in New York.
The good thing about journalists is we're naturally suspicious of new friends . . .
Though there were many in the room that had partnered with the companies, several executives showed skepticism. "Why do you want to be our friends?" asked one executive.
Why, indeed.
Once upon a time, I knew this guy during high school who no one really liked but everyone was friends with. He had a great car, and kids took advantage of the free ride. Something about these "partnerships in transition" reminds me of that kid.
Yahoo and Google covet the same users as newspapers. Usually that's the definition of a competitor.
Phillips said that Google's core mission is access to information from all "domains." Schneider responded that 115 million people visit Yahoo with a "local intent" -- and Yahoo wants to take its technology infrastructure to help newspapers.
Let's not undervalue a ride in our car. Local information is all we've got. If newspapers plan to share, then they'd better get something in return that's worth losing readers.
Comments (3)
Hey Lucas, how d'ya figure newspapers lose readers by partnering with Google or Yahoo?
Posted by Joe Murphy | May 9, 2007 11:57 PM
Posted on May 9, 2007 23:57
Everyone agrees that Yahoo and Google seek the attention of local users. Heck, Yahoo's own people say they want local users spending time on their sites. So that's an obvious working assumption.
And that assumption is what has lead these companies to newspapers. Yahoo wants your help/content because they know it will attract local users to their site.
Time is limited. If a local user spends more time on Yahoo's site, then it inherently means they're spending less time on your site.
So what can newspapers get of value back from Yahoo and Google that is worth losing that user's time?
Posted by Lucas | May 10, 2007 10:04 AM
Posted on May 10, 2007 10:04
Yeah, so I've taken a couple stabs at answering your question, Lucas, and haven't come up with much. This is what I've got:
Yahoo and Google offer a national and world-wide audience, which may be useful for certain portions of the newspaper's regular content.
Yahoo/Google have a lot of technology that would be useful in the hands of newspapers -- newspapers often turn to vendors to handle non-article non-photo non-classified content. Turning to one vendor instead of 15 has its advantages.
I can't say these are awesome answers, or even adequate answers to your question. They're just what I came up with.
Posted by Joe Murphy | May 28, 2007 7:16 PM
Posted on May 28, 2007 19:16