Interesting thought eh?

I ran across this article - Zell Wants End to Web’s Free Ride. Apparently Sam Zell (real estate mogul that recently bought the Tribune) posed the question(s):

“If all of the newspapers in America did not allow Google to steal their content, how profitable would Google be?” Zell said during the question period after his speech. “Not very.”

This could definitely put a damper on some of Google’s draw as one of the most popular useages of the Internet is to get news, check email, etc… It’s right up there.

And as far as how much it’s a player in the stack of Google services, well it’s right up there too.

Having major news outlets block Google’s ability to syndicate their data is a bit tricky though. Granted they have their own userbase but Google’s marketshare is nothing to sneeze at. One addage “givers gain” seems to apply here. Much like a bar that gives out free nuts to bring in customers, giving out pieces of data so that Google sends patrons their way seems mutually beneficial.Now ‘how’ beneficial can only truly be discovered through a study by cost analysis gurus — not just speculation buy some wealthy dude, no matter how mUch smarts him has.

Some things Zell may need to consider, are how many new internet users found out about the Tribune through using Google? How much are those new users/readers worth to him? …versus how he would have acquired those people via other channels…and at what costs?

It’s really easy to beat up on Google, hell you’ll catch me throwing mud their way on occasion, when I’m in the mood, butttttttttt seriously… Math has to play somewhat of an important role in this discussion to see who’s really getting the bulk of the cheese. I’d be curious to see how that stacked up in the end.

What’s the moral of the story?

FREE NUTS are good — or are they?

type-atcha-later,

Sean

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