• Wired , Monday, April 9, 2007 11:15 AM

Far short of calling Google "a one-trick pony" (a la Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer) Google chief Eric Schmidt, admits the search giant does get the vast majority of its revenue from one source--but he says online advertising is a business "a lot of other people would like to be in." He doesn't point out that Google get most of its revenue from text ads, despite having entered several new advertising areas.

Unconcerned, Schmidt asserts that, "new revenue models are on the horizon." He's particularly excited about Google Apps' potential to move into the market enterprise-level Web-based office tools--territory traditionally dominated by Microsoft. Other new ad areas, like video, are being held back by the controversy over copyrighted material. Schmidt dismisses the Viacom suit, the prime example, as a negotiating tool; he believes the parties will come to an agreement in the future.

As for the criticism surrounding Google's unwillingness to deploy content filtering technology, Schmidt says the Digital Millenium Copyright Act ensures there's a shared responsibility there, and that Google "expeditiously" removes material from Viacom and others in accordance with the law. He says the business model for YouTube from which all will benefit will be built on (surprise!) search. Schmidt envisions advertisers buying search ads that direct users to their content. He also expects to see five- to 10-second video ads directing users to search for specific content hosted on YouTube.

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