Sometimes ‘Old is Gold’.
It can be true for the 78 years old News Corp.’s ‘Big Boss’ Mr. Rupert Murdoch. If his plans produce ‘golden eggs’ then undoubtedly he is the ‘Hero’ – a revolutionary. OK, Capitalist Revolutionary. 🙂
Well, his new plans or ‘golden thoughts’ are to pull his news out of Google search results (because Google is not paying currently).
To produce news must cost a lot. A journalist is paid for it. He works in the field, doesn’t matter whether it’s raining or snowing or the sun is scorching upon his head. And whether it’s peace or war in the field. Then we read the news.
However, many would just go to search engines and looks for latest hot news. And obviously search engines will earn money from the ads they display for relevant searches. This money is not shared with the news producers. So it’s sole and solid revenue for search engines. That’s the point of Mr. Murdoch’s thoughts. And as ‘Google’ is the dominant search engine right now, so it earns proportionately higher for the disputed matter.
Now if News Corp. will block Google from displaying its news, it will loose certain amount of traffic. But how much percent of the incoming traffic really worth to consider for profit only News Corp. knows it better. And if Microsoft will pay a certain portion of the money as an agreement to index News Corp.’s news, it might open a steady revenue source for both parties. It can be a successful partnership as well. And not to mention, Bing as a search engine showing progress, so right now Microsoft feels confident about its bright future.
The most recent development of approval of the ‘search and ad’ partnership between MS and Yahoo! from the Canadian and Australian authorities can be another encouraging point for Mr. Murdoch. As ‘Bing’ is dedicated to innovations, so it will obviously attract more future returns for News Corp.
However, News Corp. has also to keep in mind that this new agreement will be a certain gain for Microsoft, but can be a risky affair for the media conglomerate.
If Mr. Murdoch’s plans walk forward, then News Corp.’s will loose a certain amount of traffic (primarily) but on the other hand there will be a ‘new layer’ of readers or audience for their news which will be only profitable. And if the whole story will bring success, then others will follow it. That’s another part of the story.
However, there are points for Mr. Murdoch to be confident about his News Corp.
For example, The Wall Street Journal offers some special inside of stories. Just think of Bernie Madoff who burnt many of his innocent victims. The media talked about it, but only in WSJ news, you will find that Mr. Madoff was known as ‘Jews Bond’ within his topmost client circles.
We know James Bond. So what it means to be a ‘Jews Bond’. It simply means that Mr. Madoff was an extraordinary shrewd man and it was not unknown (to people). But even though how his spider net could attract so many investors remains a big question. But fortunately he was not ‘Spider Man’.
Now this ‘inside’ of the story was only published by the WSJ. It’s not any cheap news. It’s rich news. Note once again that it’s a very ‘rich news’. Therefore Mr. Murdoch can demand payments against the news his agency is broadcasting.
Like ‘no risk no gain’, sometimes you have to take risks to see the other side of life.
It will be a mistake to think that Mr. Murdoch is now old, and an ‘outdated’ man to today’s internet technology. If he would not have the knowledge of the power of internet than who else in the Wall Street can have it. He is an old ‘fox’ and successful businessman.
On the other hand, Google is doing its business fine as well. But how much will Google lose, for instance, from the new challenges. If it’s only News Corp., then Google will not lose much, but if others follow Mr. Murdoch, then Google searches for news will surely deteriorate. So it’s not any easy game for the tech giant. They have to be cautious for the future changes. And may be in next year they are no longer the dominating search engine, ‘Bing’ will be taking its place in searches as well. Many like Microsoft’s new search engine. That’s not any comfortable feeling for Google.
Now if Mr. Murdoch can revolutionize the way media broadcasts news to a profitable level, surely he will have many followers. Sometimes ‘Old is Gold’. So let’s see whether Mr. Murdoch can really make internet to produce some ‘golden eggs’ for his News Corp.
Good Luck ‘Mr. Fox’.
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