Saturday, October 20, 2007

Warning signs for Google?

Shortly after writing the post below, contrasting certain techblogger ethics with traditional journalism standards, I read this story in Friday's Wall Street Journal about Google's troubles with Brazilian law. It's well worth your time.

Google's extraordinary profitability comes not only from its vast traffic, but also from automated, self-serve advertising sales that cost virtually nothing to handle. Unlike the way we sell ads for print and online – with sales staff earning substantial salaries and commissions – the Google engine is fueled by AdSense and its cousins. Like eBay, it's a dream business model: the customers supply all the inventory AND do all the work.

This story makes it clear that global domination is going to be a lot more complicated. As with the observation below about the need for oversight and accountability, it looks like the whole hands-off-my-internet model may not be nirvana, after all.

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