Written May 2007
by Cliff Feldwick
“Don’t Be Evil”
What can you say about a company that has that as their corporate motto? Google has that, probably one reason that a lot of us like them. But it is strange. They do explain that they mean don’t be forsaking the good of long term relations for temporary joy of short-term profits. And it shows that a company run by several independent personalities can say things the way they like (and makes sense) without running it through officially sanction sanitation committees. By establishing a “don’t be evil” standard for everyday behavior, it enhances basic decision-making actions. It’s a nice contrast from the too-accepted standard of “make the most you can this quarter, screw the future, because I’m getting my bonus and I’ll be three companies down the line before the repercussions come home”.
So the gut reaction of “surely you can’t be serious” (“I couldn’t be more serious. And stop calling me Shirley” – Airplane (1980)) is the first one when reading of objections by Yahoo and (sincerely, folks) Microsoft, to Google’s 3.1 billion dollar acquisition of on-line advertising giant Doubleclick.
"This proposed acquisition raises serious competition and privacy concerns," said Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel in an e-mail statement. ”We think this merger deserves close scrutiny from regulatory authorities to ensure a competitive online advertising market."
Gag me with a spoon, fur sure. Probably has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Microsoft was a bidder but lost out. Is the company fined 497 million Euros by the European Union for non-competitive behavior. Or is the company that wanted to keep your credit card numbers on their servers for “convenience” sake, and whose spyware defense reports in to their mothership (sorry, servers) once a week. Time Warner, perhaps the all-time giant of stupid mergers, was reportedly also unhappy.
First off, exactly how many on-line advertising firms could there be? Are there large enough numbers to describe it? So competition is not a problem. And yes, Doubleclick is predominant, but one of the nice things about the Internet is that one really great idea is all that’s needed to blow a “big guy” out of the lead and replace them with an unknown. Sort of like a couple of Stanford students trying a graduate project of organizing the college website with a search engine based on number of links – a new concept at the time (1996). Eleven years later, they’re able to buy firms for cash with 3.1 billion (yes, that’s a “b”) dollars.
So, is Google becoming too big? The list of their acquisitions grows, from fairly focused firms such as Adscape and Trendalyzer to broader categories like the November 2006 buy of YouTube. And they are cooperating with Clear Channel for radio and some newspapers for advertising. Is this a threat?
Well, what do they do for a living, really? This wonderful search capability is paid for somehow, and it’s not just by AdWords, their paid spots at the top of the results, which are at least highlighted for what they are – “sponsored links” (aren’t euphemisms grand?) Folks, they are an advertising company, and a damn good one. Their acquisitions are well thought out, and often lead to fantastic original products, such as the Keyhole buy that led to Google Earth. In the true use of the word “innovation”, they are leaders. Besides, knowing their historical expertise and constant research, if they wanted they could do an even better job of tailoring advertising based not only on searches but on history – an improvement (?) on what they do now. The acquisition of Doubleclick is just an honest admission of who they are and what they do. Would that most of the Internet was as straightforward.
Cliff Feldwick is president of Riverside Computer Consultants, and provides troubleshooting and network support for small companies. He derives no income from hits on his website – an obvious flaw in the plan. He can be reached at 410-880-0171 or at cliff@feldwick.com.