Don't Be Evil

This will get boring pretty fast, and it's Google speculation at it's worst. Stories like this are abundant. More recently, the government wants to know what search engines know, but there are a couple of things on the bright side:

Google Inc. says it will "vigorously" oppose a Justice Department legal motion filed late Wednesday requiring it to disclose information about consumer Web searches, the latest test of Internet companies' willingness and ability to shield information from government inspection.

The standoff steers clear of some of the most hot-button privacy issues, since it involves only anonymous data about Web queries, rather than information that identifies what specific users are searching for.

This is about the future though, where VOIP and IPTV will be abundant. It's coming to a TV near you through a set top box, sooner or later. Here's what Cringley, a very good tech industry follower and columnist, writes:

Google imagines a world where only single people see match.com ads, and people who can't drive see ads from taxi companies where others see Toyota campaigns. Where fraternities see ads for strip clubs, beer, Cancun weekends and LSAT prep courses, and only seniors (and their adult children) see ads for Alzheimer's drugs. What would be the value of that increased efficiency, capitalized into present dollars? Ten billion? Fifty billion? I say the value is $100 billion -- 25 percent of the total U.S. advertising market and 15 times Google's current size.

It's hard to disagree with Cringley's take on this, Google might have a hard time guaranteeing an advertiser that who is supposed to be watching really is watching, but that won't matter, since the advertisers will probably see more sales, either that or TV advertising will become cheaper.

What Google wants to do with these trailers is SERVE EVERY TV COMMERCIAL ON THE PLANET because only they will be able to do it efficiently. Only they will have the database that converts those IP addresses into sales leads, only they will have the servers and disk space close enough to the viewers to feed the ads. Only Google will have the chops to run a constant, real-time auction for the next ad every consumer is about to see, and then serve that ad at the moment the program goes to commercial.

Suddenly, everybody can (and, really, must) advertise on TV, because it'll be so specific...and so dynamic. If you start shopping for a new WiFi access point in the morning, Google will know, and that night when you watch Two and a Half Men, your ads will be from D-Link, Linksys and Belkin. And, further, they'll know that an intelligent buyer lives at your IP, so your ads won't show you a hot model demonstrating how they're plug-and-play, but will instead feature a quick recommendation from the SveaSoft guy about which AP's the best one for hotrodding.
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If I'm right, Google's current business will have been nothing more than a great test-bed for what will turn out to be their real business, which will be IP-TV ads. Program choice is just the Trojan horse that will be used to sell this to viewers; the essence of the IP-TV buildout is the fully domesticated consumer.

Far scarier, of course, is that Google will be handling all political advertising, and will eventually be helping networks customize their news offerings, too.

To completely disregard this, would be to forget what Google ($139B market cap., Cringley's column could have something to do with that) has already accomplished.

All fantasies and valuations aside, anyone check their Google search history trends? It's a new feature. Quite scary.

So, what I'm down to, is trusting Google. The Economist sheds some light on it. I'm wondering, have been for a while, how broad or how narrow Page's definition of evil is. Not giving the government anonymous data is a very good start though. So is google.org

Google is first and foremost about good search technology, their motto, other than "Don't Be Evil" is to organize ALL of the world's information, and they have an idea that it will take 300 years. My point is, if I can find the router I'm looking for, and the informationa about the political candidate I'm not sure about by searching, this ad business talk won't last too long. The former though, has always been true, most of us can find things, IF we look. Looking takes up time and effort though.

Meanwhile, Google is trying something in the radio advertisement industry.

Once again, this is Google speculation. This is one of those companies which larger-than-itself. To follow it with bits of news, while not working there, is the worst sin SEC regulation commits. Therefore, I could be full of it. Seriously.