Is Content Still King?
Ten years ago, when AOL acquired Time Warner for $164 billion, the pervasive wisdom and general consensus was: Content is King. At the time, the gargantuan merger made sense. Fast forward ten years, and today not everyone agrees – but Google still seems to think so.
In a deal announced today, Google will be acquiring “the gastronomic bible” Zagat Survey LLC. Google is trying to increase its ad revenue from local businesses – which account for more than 20% of all searches conducted on its site. This, on the heels of Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings for $12.5 billion last month and its recent expression of interest in acquiring online media service Hulu LLC.
Clearly, Google is positioning itself to be not just the premiere distributor of content on the web – and cell phones too – but has embarked on an ambitious program of content acquisition as well. With the world’s most powerful search engine, a trove of cell phone technology and patents, and now restaurant reviews and possibly TV and movies as well, it looks like Google is poised to continue and expand its position of dominance in cyberspace and beyond.
