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Will Google-DoubleClick Merger cause online advertising bottleneck?

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precursor.gifScott Cleland, President of industry research and consulting firm Precursor, has testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights and recommended the panel oppose the proposed Google-DoubleClick merger.

He explained that the Google-DoubleClick merger would create extreme market concentration and “tip” the online advertising market, the economically critical market which is the only proven monetization engine of Internet content, to a bottleneck. Details of his insights can be found at Googleopoly.net.

“The combined Google-DoubleClick would have no effective checks and balances and little accountability to consumers, competition, regulators, or third-party oversight,” Cleland said.

Originally posted on September 28, 2007 @ 8:16 am

NLPC: Google indifferent towards Internet video piracy

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google-video.gifThe legal watchdog group National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) sent a report to members of Congress detailing their research effort to examine the extent of apparent copyright violations on Google Video.

In the latest “spot check” of the site conducted from September 10 to September 18, NLPC discovered 300 additional instances of apparently copyrighted films, including over 60 movies released this year. Estimates credit Internet piracy theft for nearly $2.3 billion in lost revenue to the U.S. film industry.

The 300 apparently pirated films as well as many other copyrighted works continue to make their way to Google Video despite Google’s cited claim that it respects the rights of copyright holders and is continuing to take the lead in providing state-of-the-art tools for all copyright holders to identify and remove their intellectual property from the site.

“Google has been promising video filtering technology to screen for copyrighted content since at least the fall of 2006. On July 27th of this year, Google again announced that it would launch a filtering system by September of this year to prevent pirated material from being uploaded to its YouTube video sharing site. As of this Monday however, it appeared that Google still had not implemented the promised technology either for its YouTube or Google Video sites,” said NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm.

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Originally posted on September 26, 2007 @ 9:01 am

Google AdWords introduces Google Gadget Ads

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Google Inc. is introducing Google Gadget Ads, a new interactive ad format that is currently in an expanded beta with a select group of AdWords advertisers worldwide. According to Google, Gadget ads not only enable advertisers to target audiences in a flexible and timely manner via regular updates within the ad unit, but also allow users to engage with ad content in a way static ads haven’t facilitated in the past.

Gadget ads can incorporate real-time data feeds, images, video and much more in a single creative unit and can be developed using Flash, HTML or a combination of both. Designed to act more like content than a typical ad, they run on the Google content network, competing alongside text, image and video ads for placement. They support both cost-per-click and cost-per-impression pricing models, and offer a variety of contextual, site, geographic and demographic targeting options to ensure the ads reach relevant users with precision and scale. Gadget ads are also built on an open platform, allowing anybody from individual advertisers to agencies to set up and run ads on the Google content network. Gadget ads will not command any serving or hosting costs.

In addition, users can build active communities with gadget ads by sharing them with each other and placing them on nearly any webpage, including personalized iGoogle pages. These portability and sharing capabilities simultaneously generate additional free traffic and help foster a sense of community between advertisers and users. Detailed interaction reports allow marketers to track dozens of actions within the creative unit and optimize toward their goals.

Here is an example of a Gadget Ad from Google.

Originally posted on September 19, 2007 @ 7:36 am

Aim for the moon and pocket $30 million from Google

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google-moon.jpgTo encourage non-government and private companies worldwide who are interested in moon exploration, Google is now offering prize money worth $30 million for those who can land an unmanned robot camera on the moon and take some pictures and data.

The reward is valid until December 2012. X Prize Foundation, a non-profit group promoting technological innovation, will run the competition.

Here’s the breakdown: $20 million for vehicle that can automatically move around and transmit data. For stationary device, you’ll get $5 million. Now, a jackpot of $5 million is given for going beyond the minimum requirements.

“The Google Lunar X Prize calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity. We are confident that teams from around the world will help develop new robotic and virtual presence technology, which will dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration,” said Dr Peter Diamandis, chairman and chief executive of the X Prize Foundation.

What’s next for Google? They already have Google Earth, Google Sky, Google Moon, and Google Mars. Maybe they should just lump all these terrestrial and extra-terrestrial sites in just one big site and dub it as Google Galactica!

Originally posted on September 13, 2007 @ 11:52 pm

Google announces official acquisition of Postini

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In its continuous initiative to stretch their applications and business product offerings, internet giant Google announces its official acquisition of Postini, a company that delivers on-demand web security solutions, amounting to $625 million.

Google states that they acquired Postini “in order to create a more complete Google Apps solution that addresses the information security and compliances issues facing businesses of all sizes.” With Postini’s spam and virus protection products, Google aims to continue their initiative against unwanted and malicious messages, and in turn, enhance their applications, as well as security and corporate compliance.

Now a fully-owned subsidiary of Google. Postini products as well as employess will be integrated to the Google family within the next couple of months. With Postini having over 35,000 customers worldwide, and Google with over 100,000 businesses on Google aps, Postini being a part of Google family is definitely an asset on both ends.

Via GB.

Originally posted on September 13, 2007 @ 10:09 pm