Overheard - Google ditches radio

The flushing sound you hear is what remains of the $106 million Google paid to purchase the dMarc Broadcasting advertising network back in 2006 at the start of its radio misadventure. David Coursey, Google: Not the King of All Media

There was reason for concern because, as we all know, Google is, was, and shall remain a media company pretending to be a technology company. That is an important thing to remember: Google has yet to create a big moneymaker that isn’t tied to search-related revenue. And I think that business is starting to show cracks as new technology appears on the horizon even as Google’s search results become less useful over time.

Google ditched their audio ads. That’s not the big deal. The big deal is that so many companies are behaving as if they’re buttoning down before the storm. I thought we were already IN the storm.

Each day the earth seems to shift beneath my feet a little as the vendors we work with struggle to get back to their core competencies — and at the same time realign their marketing messages to capture the attention of anyone who’s dropping dollars.

I have this mental picture of farm animals being skittish before an earthquake or the dogs sensing a thunderstorm half an hour before there’s even a cloud in the sky.

Maybe we’re all sensing the cracks in Google’s foundation?

I need to read more about the semantic web.