08 May 2009 | Author: L. Sutherland Head of Media Content
This week Google attended the US Senate's commerce committee, and its perky vision for the future of news wasn't exactly music to the ears of some of the world's biggest newspapers and publications.
The search engine has long been demonstrating the power it wields when it comes to news provision and consumption. In March of this year, it attracted some less than desirable attention from big media names who hoped to curtail Google's ability to rank news stories depending on factors not traditionally associated with the press.
Meanwhile, this month saw yet more indications that Google is moving closer to becoming a publisher in its own right, something that is sure to cause ripples all through the industry should it take off.
So did Google's vice president of products Melissa Meyer have some words of comfort for journalists and big media names when she appeared at congress this week? According to the Register, it appears not.
She instead indicated that, while Google first and foremost aimed to respect the wishes of content producers, there were plenty of things these producers could do to help themselves by fitting into a specific model similar to that of Wikipedia's. She said: "Consider instead how the authoritativeness of news articles might grow if an evolving story were published under a permanent, single URL as a living, changing, updating entity.
"We see this practice today in Wikipedia's entries and in the topic pages at NYTimes.com. The result is a single authoritative page with a consistent reference point that gains clout and a following of users over time."
She then elaborated on the potential scope for mash ups, which would result in a far more interactive news model than the traditional journalist to reader via a trusted medium system we all know and, for the most part, love.
No one can accuse Google of being slack when it comes to innovation, however many news providers have surely been left wondering where authority comes into Google's attribution of rankings when it comes to news stories.
As the publishing industry remains in a state of flux, with concerns born of burgeoning overhead costs and failing returns due in large part to the power of free online content, the part that Google has to play in the news distribution of the future is likely to be massive. It can only be hoped that traditional publishers and modern innovators find a way to work together and continue providing us with the quality news we need, when we need it and through an easily accessible medium.
Traditional journalism is old news, says Google
This week Google attended the US Senate's commerce committee, and its perky vision for the future of news wasn't exactly music to the ears of some of the world's biggest newspapers and publications. The search engine has long been demonstrating the power it wields when it comes to news provision and consumption. In March of this year, it attracted some less than desirable attention from big media names who hoped to curtail Google's ability to rank news stories depending on factors not traditionally associated with the press.
Meanwhile, this month saw yet more indications that Google is moving closer to becoming a publisher in its own right, something that is sure to cause ripples all through the industry should it take off.
So did Google's vice president of products Melissa Meyer have some words of comfort for journalists and big media names when she appeared at congress this week? According to the Register, it appears not.
She instead indicated that, while Google first and foremost aimed to respect the wishes of content producers, there were plenty of things these producers could do to help themselves by fitting into a specific model similar to that of Wikipedia's. She said: "Consider instead how the authoritativeness of news articles might grow if an evolving story were published under a permanent, single URL as a living, changing, updating entity.
"We see this practice today in Wikipedia's entries and in the topic pages at NYTimes.com. The result is a single authoritative page with a consistent reference point that gains clout and a following of users over time."
She then elaborated on the potential scope for mash ups, which would result in a far more interactive news model than the traditional journalist to reader via a trusted medium system we all know and, for the most part, love.
No one can accuse Google of being slack when it comes to innovation, however many news providers have surely been left wondering where authority comes into Google's attribution of rankings when it comes to news stories.
As the publishing industry remains in a state of flux, with concerns born of burgeoning overhead costs and failing returns due in large part to the power of free online content, the part that Google has to play in the news distribution of the future is likely to be massive. It can only be hoped that traditional publishers and modern innovators find a way to work together and continue providing us with the quality news we need, when we need it and through an easily accessible medium.
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