I don't think I like this...

[highlyeccentric]

Google now a 'web parasite'. As far as I can tell from what the article says and my workmates have tried to explain, the Very Important Person who is the editor of the Wall Street Journal has decided to come out and bitch about Google's attack on 'traditional brand loyalty' and the mistaken conception that content should be free.

Thomson, a former editor of The Times who was appointed editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal last May, said consumers must understand why they were paying a premium for content.

"It's certainly true that readers have been socialised -- wrongly I believe -- that much content should be free," he said.

"And there is no doubt that's in the interest of aggregators like Google who have profited from that mistaken perception. And they have little incentive to recognise the value they are trading on that's created by others."

Thomson said Google benefited from aggregating content from The Wall Street Journal and other newspapers.

"Google argues they drive traffic to sites, but the whole Google sensibility is inimical to traditional brand loyalty," he said.

"Google encourages promiscuity -- and shamelessly so -- and therefore a significant proportion of their users don't necessarily associate that content with the creator.

"Therefore revenue that should be associated with the creator is not garnered."

According to my workmates this Thomson bloke is Very Influential and when he comes out and declares something it's a Sign of the Times or whatever.

I don't really understand his complaint here, but I don't think I like the conclusions.

Comments

[tarimanveri.livejournal.com]

His complaint seems to be based on the fact that he says "traditional brand loyalty" like it's a good thing.

Now I want to rant in a socialist fashion.

[highlyeccentric.livejournal.com]

Yeah...

Just had this entertaining conversation with the workmate who sent me the link.

Workmate: How come we can't open google?
Me, with sour face: Because it's inimical to traditional brand loyalty.
Workmate: No, really, can you open it? *shows me error message on his screen*
Me: Well I'm in *gmail*, and google reader...
Workmate: Can see where your brand loyalty lies...

He then went on to say he thinks a lot of the fuss is to do with the google version of the Kindle - which has the potential to REALLY cut into newspapers' bottom lines, by cornering the hard-copy commuter market.

[iremos.livejournal.com]

Puleaze. The Wapost is going broke, like much of the American newspaper industry. Now they are whining and moaning that they can't find another model that works, or aren't working hard enough to *create* a model that works.

[simon-stylites.livejournal.com]

Someone has (1) confused the internet with Google.

They did this because (2) Google has managed to build vast brand loyalty by figuring out how to conflate its brand with the internet.

He doesn't inspire me to, you know, pay for more of his thoughts.