NewsPAPER companies in Denmark conspire to prevent Google News from making life easier for me and millions of news hungry ‘prosumers’? I think the Online Media Association FDIM has a bee in its bonnet about the largest Web Media company on the globe. As I understand it they are more concerned with preventing Google making life easier for millions of readers (myself included), than competing with each other. This will continue until one snaps(most likely Mecom Berlingkske) and surrenders to a deal you just can’t say no to. Then the other guys will have missed the boat, and stand to lose even more! This is even more fun than watching the reaction to the erstwhile entrant to the market Icelandic 365Media with the free Nyhedsavisen. After all Icelandic vikings are minions compared to Google Royalty, so how long can this go on, I ask?
September 27, 2007 at 7:09 am |
There is a lot at stake here for the Danish newspapers. Together several of the big news players provide and payable subscription to an aggregated news service for Denmark called Infomedia. This business is threatened by Google News’ free business model and therefore the biggest media houses see their interest in collectively refusing collaboration with Google News for Denmark.
I believe that this can continue as long as the major Danish news players together agree that Google is enemy no. 1 rather than each other and as long as they have a common lucrative business in Infomedia earning money on what Google intend to give for free.
Infomedia does not cover 100% of the Danish news flow, but enough to prevent Google News from having sufficient sources to make reasonable news coverage.
September 27, 2007 at 9:45 am |
My goodness, Infomedia looks like something from the ‘dark ages’. If they were really smart they could set up a rival free aggregated News Service and make far more revenue from context ads. It looks like somebody needs some advise on how to do this?