So many news events, so little time.
What comes to mind today? A variety of things, starting with Google's news that it will launch an online classified business. We assume this means
that all other classified ad businesses are doomed.
Dubbed "Google Base," the service enables users to submit content to a searchable database. For real estate listings, for example, users
have the option of entering price, property type, and photos with content. The plan seems like a viable enough strategy to generate more traffic for serving search ads, right? Google is likely to face
off against Ebay and Yahoo! Classifieds in this space.
Merrill Lynch reports that newspaper print classifieds generated $16.6 billion in 2004 and are up 4.4 percent, year-to-date. The
Interactive Advertising Bureau estimates online classifieds totaled $1.8 billion in 2004. The online classifieds sector was up 33 percent in the first half of 2005.
On another front, AOL is
introducing RSS feeds for its video search engine from partners including Blastro.com, EVTV1.com, Forbes.com, GameTrailers.com, PC World and Time4 Media properties like Transworld
Skateboarding, Transworld Snowboarding, and Transworld Surf. The new optimized video RSS feeds are available through AOL.com's Video tab: www.aol.com/video, AOL Search, and on the AOL service.
AOL says audio/video search engine Singingfish and its network of properties will also feature content from the content partners. AOL's Singingfish has indexed more than 1.5 million video assets
and RSS feeds from streaming video sites. "With AOL Video Search, we are providing consumers with a faster, easier way to find the best videos on the Web," says Kevin Conroy, executive vice
president of AOL Media Networks The goal is to encourage video producers to include their content in the AOL Video Search index so that they're accessible to consumers. AOL's video search engine
has more than 18,000 licensed and original video assets from AOL network programs like AOL Music Sessions, AOL Music LIVE!, and AOL Coaches.
Lastly, a few days ago we woke up composing new
lyrics to Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World." The song goes like this:
"I see Google and Comcast, MSN too....Yahoo! threw its hat in for you AOL, it's true, And I think to myself,
what a turn of events..."
"I see eyeballs aplenty and Internet green... To online a flight, a blogging delight, And I think to myself, what a turn of events."
And so it goes...