Jim Spanfeller, CEO of Forbes.com and chairman emeritus of the Internet Advertising Bureau, just prodded Google to “help clean up the cesspool” that is the web. Some have already said he’s stumbled into his own cesspool, here’s my reaction.
Spanfeller has two suggestions for Google:
- Share the wealth
Spanfeller suggests that Google makes a stunning $60 million per year directing its users to Forbes.com. This is remarkable since this would mean that Forbes accounted for almost 0.5% of Google’s global revenue base last year!Spanfeller implies that Google makes money whenever a user clicks on Forbes.com through a search for “Forbes” and that Forbes must compete with other marketers for control of its brand in Google. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Google only makes money if a user clicks on a paid keyword on the right-hand side of search results. Searches for Forbes, “Forbes.com” and “Forbes Magazine” don’t reveal any paid keywords. The two paid ads attached to the “Forbes” keyword have been purchased by Forbes itself, so the only way Spanfeller can be correct is if Forbes is spending $60 million/yr. on Google ads.Moreover, the accusation that Spanfeller makes that Google forces Forbes to “buy its brand name” aren’t necessarily true. Google and most networks place restrictions on the general public’s ability to bid on unique brands. Try searching for “Amazon.com” and you will find zero non-Amazon ads because they are forbidden by policy. If Forbes hasn’t made the protected list and that’s causing a problem, then it should simply ask for its brand to be added.Overall, I find it astounding that the CEO of Forbes and a chairman of the IAB does not seem to understand some basic elements of Google’s revenue model. With that said, I am glad that he’s joining the digital community and hope that this and other criticism he’s receiving on PaidContent.org will be seen constructively.
- Preferential treatment for “professionally produced” content. How this would be accomplished isn’t clear, but I would guess that he probably has in mind something like putting up Forbes headlines on the Google frontpage or highlighting Forbes articles in search results.
This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard pleas for cash and content subsidies and I can empathize with their motivation: Google finds what’s popular and not necessarily what’s great.
But fixating upon Google as the only solution to their problems illustrates a fundamental blind spot which traditional media have about search technologies and Google itself. They seem to think that Google controls what people see rather than understanding Google as an algorithm and network that traditional media can use to their own advantage – and Google will help them to do so.
For example, Forbes can easily go over to Google and signup for free Google Custom Search. This will allow them to use Google technology to search “only the best” content on their website or even on a network of other “professional” sites. For instance, Forbes could ally itself with US News and World Reports, Newsweek and so forth to create a selective search engine. With this many popular sites linking to the search engine, it will rise relatively quickly in Google PageRank enabling Google to funnel more traffic over to them. Mission accomplished: a solution to the cesspool.
Now, the question is whether or not anybody cares for this solution. I think there is a market that cares. Well-curated blogs already provide this service for readers. Information services like Hoover’s, CapitalIQ and Bloomberg make billions by helping people to find critical information. A question Forbes should ask its readers honestly is whether or not it belongs in that ballpark. Personally, I tend to associate Forbes more with the dubious “10 Best Cities for Young Professionals” type lists than I do with insightful analysis a la The Economist.
What I do hope Spanfeller will come to understand is that Google makes it readily possible for traditional media to take “cleaning up the cesspool” into their own hands and they should do so. Let the market test whether Google is wrong. Better yet, hop a cab it over to Google’s New York headquarters on 15th Street and I’m sure they’ll be glad to help you try the experiment. If they aren’t, then you can talk to Live, Yahoo, Ask, WordPress, Daylife and and a few hundred other companies who would also be happy to help. Heck, you can talk to me and I’ll be happy to help you start cleaning up the cesspool.
