The NY Times today had three articles (reg req’d) that were interesting. The first two are about Google and the third is a Gary Rivlin piece about what happened with Friendster (the most interesting of the three). The Friendster tale, one of clueless boards, ego, greed and doubt, stands in marked contrast to the more recent story of YouTube.
Speaking of which, the other two stories (about Google) are a review of the YouTube deal and why it makes sense (least interesting of the three) and then about how Google is becoming “synonymous with the Internet” for many young people. (There are parallels with Apple on the hardware side.) The latter Google story also touches on privacy issues and some user ambivalence (not unlike corporate ambivalence) about becoming so embroiled in “Planet Google.”
AuctionBytes reported Friday on the introduction of a classifieds ad format on eBay. eBay, which operates the Craigslist-inspired Kijiji outside the US, is the logical buyer of eBay if Jim Buckmaster and Craig Newmark ever get tired and want to sell. (Would a price tag north of $1 billion for Craigslist be high or low?). eBay currently owns 25% of Craigslist.
And I apparently forgot the mention the previously released study from LexisNexis that found consumers would turn first to traditional media for important news – TV, radio and print newspapers – because they still hold greater trust and credibility than the Internet. These findings effectively represent a window of opportunity for newspapers and other traditional media to leverage consumer trust into more competitive Internet offerings.
Screenwerk 