Google: The Future OS Of Advertising?

by Dave Morgan, Nov 16, 2006, 12:00 PM

• Comment
• Recommend (1)
• Tweet
• 

This has been a big week for writing about the growing dominance of Google in the media and advertising world. In The New York Times this past Sunday, Richard Siklos chronicled the "mate or menace" dilemma that working with Google presents for most media companies, much of this spurred by Google's recent announcements of its moves into selling print and radio advertising in addition to its online offerings. The article quotes CEO Eric Schmidt as saying, "Ultimately, our goal at Google is to have the strongest advertising network and all of the world's information." Simultaneously, Google's Vice President of Sales Tim Armstrong was quoted in Revenue magazine as saying,"What are Google's long-term ambitions? Nothing less than the creation of 'the largest marketing platform in the world.'" Does this mean that Google has aspirations that media companies should fear?

The question of whether or not Google is a media company was one of the central themes of the Siklos article. As many of you know, Google is steadfast in its denials that it is a media company, a position which I've challenged in this column before. The way I see it, Google's role relative to content creators and content companies is not unlike the role that publishers, media networks, or syndicates play relative to editorial staffs in traditional media. Google controls the revenue in its partnerships. The company can hire, fire, or replace content providers in its network at will, just as publishers do with their editors, reporters, and correspondents. Google unilaterally sets and adjusts the revenue splits for the vast majority of its network publishers. It is in charge.

This position of revenue stream control for so many content companies is what has gotten the attention of other commentators. Robert Young of GigaOm penned a very insightful piece about Google last week. In the article, he argued that Google is well down the path to controlling the marketplace for buying and selling all advertising--controlling advertising's operating system--much the way that Microsoft took control of the operating system for personal computers and personal computing software.

Is that what is going on here? Is Google on the verge of controlling the OS of advertising? I don't think so. I don't think that this self-proclaimed "non-media company" is anywhere near that yet. However, I do believe that the company is well on its way to becoming the media industry's MOST DOMINANT publisher. They certainly aspire to control the distribution, packaging and monetization of the world's content.

Might this position be eventually extended to an operating system-like dominance in the entire advertising eco-system and all of its delivery systems and device? I don't think so, at least not for a long time. Of course, I think that it was just last week that Google's Schmidt also said that he believes that mobile advertising will become so powerful that mobile phone and mobile phone services will be free, subsidized by advertising. Subsidized by Google advertising, I imagine :)

How will this all play out? Will we find ourselves in the future talking to our friends on our Google phones while watching GoogleBoxOffice dramas - you know, "It's Not Television, it's GBO"--on our Google TVs while listening to recent cuts from UGoogle2, the hot Irish band, on our GooglePods? Imagining it certainly makes for good theater. What do you think?

• Comment
• Recommend (1)
• Tweet
• 

Be the first to comment on "Google: The Future OS Of Advertising?"

Leave a Comment