Thursday, July 24, 2008

Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim

Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim

Pilgrim’s Picks for July 24

Posted: 24 Jul 2008 09:45 AM CDT

Darn it! I had a really good opening for today’s Picks, but I think I left it sitting at the coffee shop.

I’ll be right back…er…enjoy today’s Picks while I’m gone.

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Business, Dissidents and China…Oh My!

Posted: 24 Jul 2008 09:28 AM CDT

As I have pointed out in a previous post China is working hard to keep a shine on the veneer that it wants the world to see as the Olympic Games begin on August 8th.

What they want you to see:

  1. An ancient culture that has made a smooth transition to a modern economic powerhouse
  2. A new freedom for the Chinese despite their political infrastructure being the same
  3. The country's ability to go before the world and put on a spectacular show that the West would be proud of

What is actually happening?

  1. China has clamped down further on issuing business visas, government officials said Thursday, in the latest expansion of already-tight entry restrictions for next month’s Olympic Games. This is covered well in an article at Yahoo! News
  2. Arrest of dissidents for breaking probation terms (how convenient timing wise, huh?)
  3. Protest zones being established for  Olympic Games (I can imagine that these are conveniently placed in a nice town not so near Beijing)

So how is this related to the internet you ask? Good question. It is related especially regarding the arrest of one dissident, Du Daobin, who was on probation from an incident dating back to 2004. He was arrested this week having been accused of posting articles on overseas websites and receiving guests without permission. This was his probation violation that will take him out of circulation for at least the length of the Games and who knows how much longer. China desperately wants to appear like a free nation to the rest of us but it's clear that they are not and are not working toward that end.

Reporters Without Borders says it best:

“Du was living under a permanent threat,” the group said. “He could have been imprisoned at any time under the sentence he received more than four years ago. He is the third leading cyber-dissident to be imprisoned in the run-up to the Olympic Games, after Hu Jia and Huang Qi.”

I realize that this may be a bit light on the internet marketing side but the real underlying theme here is still the fact the internet is ideally a free market. This allows all of us to do what we do and make a living doing it. There are huge emerging markets out there on the horizon but will political forces limit our ability to do business there? It's a big "to be determined" but I have to suspect that the barriers to entry are going to be high. Even Google has trouble there. Red flag anyone?

I don't plan on posting about this anymore simply because it looks like there will be more of the same even after the Olympics are long gone. My hope is that the next time you hear from me on this subject is because real change has occurred there and this thing called the internet acts the same in China as it does throughout the rest of the free world.

Question: If this environment of fear continues do you think that China will ever be the economic force it could be?

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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s Google Gauntlet Missing One Key Element

Posted: 24 Jul 2008 09:24 AM CDT

As a follow-on to Microsoft’s reorganization, BoomTown has published CEO Steve Ballmer’s internal memo to employees.

It does a pretty good job of rallying the troops, but I was most interested in Ballmer’s comments about Google. I’ve added emphasis to the key words used:

We continue to compete with Google on two fronts—in the enterprise, where we lead; and in search, where we trail. In search, our technology has come a long way in a very short time and it's an area where we'll continue to invest to be a market leader. Why? Because search is the key to unlocking the enormous market opportunities in advertising, and it is an area that is ripe for innovation. In the coming years, we'll make progress against Google in search first by upping the ante in R&D through organic innovation and strategic acquisitions. Second, we will out-innovate Google in key areas—we're already seeing this in our maps and news search. Third, we are going to reinvent the search category through user experience and business model innovation. We'll introduce new approaches that move beyond a white page with 10 blue links to provide customers with a customized view of their world. This is a long-term battle for our company—and it's one we'll continue to fight with persistence and tenacity.

After my recent meetings at Microsoft, I don’t doubt any of the items bolded above. Microsoft has some very smart people, is working on some innovative stuff in search, and has the war-chest for acquisitions. But, in the war on Google, none of that matters. What’s missing is the message–or the brand.

Microsoft just doesn’t have a brand that makes users want to switch from Google. When you consider that using Google is not like using a Verizon cell phone–you’re not locked into a 2-year agreement–it’s pretty sad that Microsoft–or any other search engine for that matter–can’t persuade us to switch from Google.

When consumers think of Microsoft, they think "Windows." When they think of Google, they think "search." That’s the "front" Microsoft needs to focus on, and history has shown that bigger, better, faster, is not enough to topple Google.

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Age Old Conundrum: Which Came First, the Microsoft Reorg or the Kevin Johnson Departure?

Posted: 24 Jul 2008 09:08 AM CDT

I’m sure you’re one of many generations to ask the question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg the top exec resignation or the company reorganization?

Your brain will get balled-up in a knot today, with the news that Microsoft will reorganize its online services and Windows groups as top exec Kevin Johnson leaves to become CEO at Juniper Networks.

[Johnson's] departure coincides with a reorganization of his unit, which had included both online services and Microsoft’s flagship Windows software. Now, Microsoft said, online services and Windows will be split into two groups.

Microsoft will name a new "senior lead position" for its online services unit, the company said in a statement, while senior vice presidents Steven Sinofsky, Jon DeVaan and Bill Veghte will lead the Windows and Windows live units.

Johnson played a key role in Microsoft’s aggressive attempts to acquire Yahoo, which makes you now wonder if that will ever get done–Juniper was likely Johnson’s back-up plan.

So, back to our initial question. Did Microsoft lose Johnson, then decide that was enough to warrant a huge reorganization? Or, did the reorg come first, and Johnson decided he didn’t want any part of it?

I’m going with door number 1. What say you?

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Linky Goodness, July 23

Posted: 23 Jul 2008 04:30 PM CDT

Wednesday comes this time each week. Today I wish it didn’t.

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Google Knol Launches

Posted: 23 Jul 2008 04:25 PM CDT

You know how déjà vu is? I’m feeling that today, since it’s been seven months since Google Knol was announced, and they’re just now getting around to going live. And what we said at the first announcement still looks to be true: “Google Runs Out of Content to Monetize; Wants You to Build More.”

Despite obvious similarities, Google Knol will make no claims of aiming to kill Wikipedia. In case you’ve forgotten, knols are small hills which may or may not be a good place for a gunner’s nest “authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects.”

It’s easy to create a knol. Here’s my attempt:
creating a knol in google knol

While Google says that the “key principle behind Knol is authorship” (hence my name and face on the knol above), I’d say that, if they’re willing to vet their authors, the real principle at work here is authority. Knol authors (whom I’m sure will have a great name soon) put their name on their content (which I have to say is very unlike putting your user name and page behind every edit you make as far as claims of authority go).

Knol authors can also verify their identities through cell phone or credit card verification, enabling Google to double check with the phone/card providers to confirm your name and address.

Google is making a marked departure from the straight-wiki model, though with what they call “moderated collaboration”:

With this feature, any reader can make suggested edits to a knol which the author may then choose to accept, reject, or modify before these contributions become visible to the public. This allows authors to accept suggestions from everyone in the world while remaining in control of their content. After all, their name is associated with it!

Which is a great structural control—but doesn’t necessarily bring any of us closer to the truth, of course. But hey, I’m okay with subjectivity as long as we’ll admit it, right?

To promote the sense of community (and sociallyness!), there will be features other than free and open editing, including comments, ratings and reviews.

Duplicate content is also not a concern for Google: “We expect that there will be multiple knols on the same subject, and we think that is good.” It’s good for Google because that means they’ll have more content, more pages in their index and possibly more places to put advertising.

But, to ask search engines’ perennial spam-defining question, is it good for users? You find six—or sixteen or sixty—pages on druidic religions—which do you read? Who do you believe when they disagree? And how do you find them and know that there are other knols on the same topic?

Google is offering Knol authors two types of “content.” The first, through a deal with the New Yorker, will be one cartoon from the New Yorker’s cartoon database per knol.

The other “content,” naturally, will be voluntary participation in AdSense. Google has ever so generously offered to share AdSense revenue on Knol pages with Knol authors—though I’m mighty curious to know how the percentage they’ll get compares to other AdSense publishers’ cuts.