Oh, My. Google Personal News
September 21, 2008
Newspapers worldwide no longer ignore Google. Nope. The “kill more trees” crowd sees the LCD message. The GOOG does news. If you have not explored Google’s personal news service, here’s the url http://news.google.com.my/news
The Star Online here has a good summary of what the service delivers to users worldwide. The Star is published in Malaysia. Users in more than 48 countries can use the service in the country’s native language. If you find a story you can’t read, you can use Google Translate to sort out the meaning here.
After some clicking you can configure a nifty summary of what’s happened in the last 36 hours. Some headlines turn up more quickly, but for the personalized topics that I track, Google lags me by about eight hours. Your mileage may vary.
There are no advertisements on the Personal News page that I could spot. Even Google seems reluctant to jab more digital lances into the media bulls’ necks. What’s interesting is that I can replicate most of the Google functionality with other free services. What sets the GOOG’s service apart is the easy to use configuration tool and the speed with which headlines, images, and snippets render on my cheap laptop in Utrecht via a snagged, open WiFi signal.
Will the global media titans be able to stop Googzilla? In my opinion, the media titans are about 10 years too late and Googleplex of technology savvy short. But, just for goose fun, let’s assume that the newspaper titans get this Google News “my” service turned off. Here’s a scenario for you:
Google offers to share revenue for stories posted by freelance journalists, retired journalists, or Web log people whom Google certifies. Slap a few ad slots on the “my” page and call it a day.
I know many people love Yahoo News. I have a personal Yahoo news page, and I find headlines that don’t update, weird configuration tools that don’t give me control, and a content selection function that makes me do too much work. The standard news page features weird pop ups, which I dislike, and the tab that I have to select to see stories from services that are not featured. In the last year, I have learned to put up with Yahoo and love newsreaders. Now “my” Google News is flirting with me.
In this scenario, three constituencies may have some trouble:
- The media titans are in for a long slog through a revenue Sahara
- Web 2.0 newsreader providers may have to do some additional work
- Yahoo, long number one in Web news, may face some competition
Check out the “my” service. I used to work for a traditional newspaper which was purchased by a global media titan. After watching the daily news hole shrink, talented journalists fired, and the paper chopped down to the size of a legal pad, I must say, “Well, dudes, you are in a bit of a pickle now.” Chuckle. Chuckle.
Stephen Arnold, September 22, 2008
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