Google at Five: From Free Phenomenon to Monetized Monster
The Associated Press notes via SiliconValley.com and other major outlets that it was only five years ago that Google first burst onto the Web scene with its extraordinary search capabilities that have altered the terrain of how online content is accessed and monetized. Like many such phenomenons, Google was not taken very seriously by search portal players such as Yahoo!, AltaVista, Excite and others because they came in without any clear monetization model. Oops. Guess that changed fairly quickly once Google's highly effective contextual advertising took hold. Now, according to AP, Yahoo! is spending in the neighborhood of USD $2 billion to come up with an effective search alternative, and Microsoft a likely similar or larger portion of its USD $49 billion cash mountain. Time and time again mainstream publishers fail to take seriously emerging trends that are creating vContent - highly valued content - because effective monetization models are not apparent immediately. When content value is the clear and primary focus, though, it's rare that effective monetization will not follow.