Google is now "a significant consumer media company." Those words are found in an
intriguing and revealing story in Fortune about Google and the even larger struggle for control of media, West Coast vs. East Coast. Google, of course, is on the West Coast, while Viacom is on the East.
In the words of Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom, which, of course, is suing Google and its subsidiary, YouTube: "This is the first time in my experience of a couple decades that I've seen a significant consumer media company not feel they have to obtain rights before they utilize content." In other words, Google doesn't want to play by the rules, according to Dauman.
But of course, Google has the trendy lefty mystique going for it: It's progressive and politically correct to love Google. And so the legalities, or illegalities, ofw what Google is doing don't seem to bother Fortune writer David Kirkpatrick--maybe he figures that after Time-Warner goes under, he can get a job with Google news. Maybe not, David--Google may be cool, but there's no indication that they are willing to float such unprofitable ventures as magazine publishing.
The Cable Gamer likes Google well enough, but she can't help but notice that Google seems to be making a lot of enemies these days, including Comcast.
And yet in the meantime, Google continues to expand, into new areas, including in-game advertising--now there's a category that didn't exist not so long ago.
So what's the future? Will Google News contribute to the news, will it kill the news, or will it be the news?
