Shift to Web delivery

Writely and Spreadsheets Combined By Google
docs.google.com is the new destination for Google’s Web-based Writely word processor and their companion spreadsheet.
Given both of the apps are Web-based, anyone with a Web browser can use these apps, no matter where they are. It’s not surprising that Google also offers extensive searching within the documents that are created.
Just how long the Writely name will survive, now it’s being referred to as Google Docs?
Google bought Writely back in March and got to work with bringing it into Google-dom.
Back in June, Google let it be known that they’d matched Writely with a spreadsheet, causing waves of discussion as to them treading on Microsoft’s toes.
One of the nifty features is the ability to collaborate with other people in your Google address book and choose to share the documents in an area created with anyone on the Web. Once created, the authors can attach tags to the content to locate them again.
This is great for Google, not just because they are knocking one on the chin for Microsoft, but because they’re giving people tools to generate content … for them to search on Google. Pretty cyclical init.
Google Docs & Spreadsheets
12 October, 2006
DiddyTV: YouTube Gains A Paying Partner
In true online video blog style, the announcement was made by Mr Diddy (not one of Ken Dodd’s little friends), but differing from the norm, he’s filmed walking in to a Burger King and happens to drop their catch phrase a couple of times while order his burger to “have it his way”.
Interestingly Mr Diddy says that he’s going to “Buy a channel on YouTube,” so we’re assuming that there’s money involved, especially as Mr Diddy refers to “The Contract” in his video piece.
Also of note, is that Mr Diddy has his own URL on YouTube – YouTube.com/diddyTV – certainly the first that we’ve seen that uses such a short form.
There’s also a great spoof of Mr Diddy’s video by Lisa Nova.
Details of the deal between Mr Diddy and Burger King haven’t been disclosed, but we’d imagine that it’s going to be worth more that a couple of orders at their stores, even if his entourage are ordering large.
Of course, this big step up by Mr Diddy has absolutely nothing to do with the new album that he’s releasing this month and is cunningly blip-cut into his video pieces.
We attribute much of Mr Diddy’s knowledge and acceptance of YouTube down to Ryan Leslie, who is part of Mr Diddy’s posse (which we believe is the common parlance). Ryan has been using MySpace and YouTube for a long time to promote himself, his label Next Selection (for life) and his artists like Cassie. We’ve spoken about his work in many consultancy sessions that we’ve done with media companies – and frankly have great regard for the way he’s used the medium, such as his idea to get people to post their own lip-sync video on YouTube.
The absolute proof of this is Mr Diddy’s message to Ryan saying that he’d “finally talked him into it,” asking him to send over some of his friends to Mr Diddy’s Myspace. To show how these things roll, you’ll note that Mr Diddy doesn’t have Ryan in his Top 16 friends on his MySpace. You may also note that Mr Diddy has had over 10m plays of his tracks – some 4m of which for Come To Me, that was produced by Ryan Leslie. Where’s the friendship?
Google interested in buying YouTube?
Over the weekend there has been much chatter about YouTube being bought by Google, after it was rumoured by the WSJ. The figure banded around was $1.6Bn.
This would be the most expensive purchase that Google has made. Up until now they’ve been very smart and picked up other compaies at early stages for relative small change. The rumored figure for Blogger was $30m.
Google Video hasn’t been the boon that they had hoped it was going to be. Buying YouTube will take Google into the forefront of serving video online and with the $10Bn they’ve got in the bank, not an unfeasible amount for them to pay for it. When put into historical context, it appears a pretty cheap price – don’t forget that Yahoo paid $7.5Bn for broadcast.com back in the Web 1.0 days.
9 October, 2006
Jamie’s ‘Cooking’ On The Web
In a sure sign that TV content on the Web is going to be as important as TV content on the TV, AOL has signed up everyone’s (in certain parts of the UK at least) favourite ‘geezer’ cook Jamie Oliver.
The deal, which will see Oliver going a step further than David Cameron’s kitchen sink webcameron, by hosting a live Webcast family cooking session from his home on Friday 12th October at 7:00 pm UK time . AOL reckon that it’s a first for delivering a celebrity cooking strand to the PC and we confidently expect pizza munching geeks to be severely unimpressed by the whole idea.
But it’s a ‘win win’ scenario for Oliver and AOL, Oliver will be able to plug his latest book and AOL are expecting non-subscribers to sign up for their free Webmail accounts.
The clever sparks at AOL have also got a competition going, with the winning entrant’s family joining Jamie’s live Friday evening cooking japes. In what we suspect is a sneaky bid for hilarious UGC (user generated content), the AOL blurb tells us,
“All you have to do is send us a video (up to 5 minutes long) of you and your family, showing just what you get up to in the kitchen. Whoever appears the most in need of Jamie’s help will win”.
AOL’s UK operation currently has a ‘for sale’ sign up and it’s not clear what this initiative will do to the price.
3 October, 2006
PICNIC06 Review: A Very Biased Report
So, there I was at the first ever PICNIC – a cross media conference taking place in Amsterdam last week…
Highlights included John Underkoffler, Minority Report advisor, demonstrating his gestural interface technology. You had to be there to appreciate it…
Craig(slist) Newmark came across as really caring about his users and not wanting to sell out. He answers customer service emails and takes down unwanted content. He’s more interested in making his website run faster than Web 2 point doh!…
Marc Canter told us about OpenID – an open standard that will enable Net users to have one login account for all the websites that use OpenID. Cool! He also vigorously pushed his new, open source, Digital Lifestyle Aggregator software. He’s a performer.
In a break, Marc and I talked around my (Kendra like) pet subjects of ‘service clouds’ and ‘user-centric computing’. If you can have an open API for IDs then why not have one for dating or addresses or photos or anything? Hence we see more ‘mashups’ using these open APIs. Doesn’t it seem that many websites will end up being portals to these ‘service clouds’?
The ‘Web 2.0’ travel session promised much but was really a ‘let’s save the posterior of KLM’, the sponsor (ahem). If we add a blog, wiki, forum or whatever Web 2.0 thingy to our site, will you buy more tickets from us? I proposed that people just wanted the best deal and are using price comparison websites to find them and, oh, that brands were dead. I think that last part was the hardest bit for the panel to swallow – the Dutch are very loyal to their national airline.
Tune in for PICNIC06 Review: concluding part on Friday.
Picnic06
Kendra
2 October, 2006
BBC Signs MoU With Microsoft: Disaster For Open Media?
The BBC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft. Areas of the potential investigation and collaboration that the non-exclusive agreement includes, covers “search and navigation, distribution, and content enablement” (what ever that means in English).
It was signed in a meeting that sounds like it was designed to massage the egos of Mark Thompson (BBC Chief) and Ashley Highfield (BBC Head of Tech), held with Bill Gates (queue trumpets) at Microsoft’s office in Seattle.
Highfield is quoted as saying “Microsoft is not just a key supplier to the BBC, it is also a key gateway to audiences that the BBC needs to reach through Web services it runs like MSN and Windows Live Messenger, and hardware such as Xbox® and the Windows Media Center.” Apparently trying to balance this, he continued “The BBC needs to work with all players in this space to make sure our programmes and content are enjoyed by the widest possible audience, without always having to come to bbc.co.uk to find it.”
It’s with horror that we read this news. It’s hard to imagine that the BBC will stay format neutral following a deal like this.
Microsoft has been creeping into the BBC’s online media for a long time now. It first came to light when we broke the story near the start of 2004 that the BBC’s interactive media player trial (as it was then) would be using the Microsoft’s media format and DRM. At that point, the story BBC spun, was that they weren’t committed to using Microsoft’s DRM, but each stage of the trial beyond that, did.
The news today doesn’t go a long way to changing our view that it won’t be a permanent feature.
Of course Gates and Highfield shared a stage at Mix06 back in March this year
Quite why the BBC is tying its colours to the Microsoft mast is beyond us, especially as the announcement focused alot on Web 2.0. It’s widely thought that Microsoft has lost the dominant position it used to hold and is struggling to catchup with the developments that have gone on in the Web 2.0 world – expect bloggers to rip this one apart.
A move like this could take the BBC from an organisation held in high regard with the high tech grass roots, to one of ridicule.
BBC Press release
28 September, 2006
Expanded Euro Regulation Repudiation By UK’s OFCOM: TWF
The UK’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator OFCOM last week made clear its opposition to potential EU regulation. It fears it will straight-jacket the emerging new wave industries aiming to propel high tech growth in the EU zone over the coming years.
Currently regulation of broadcasting in the EU lies within sovereign states but the overriding policy is subject to the famous 1989, Television Without Frontiers Directive which is likely to be updated and widened in 2007. At the time of the drafting of this legislation, TV was considered as a linear broadcasting method of distribution. The danger is that now the bureaucrats have an inkling of what convergence means, they want to manage its development.
OFCOM commissioned the respected Rand Corporation to look at how the proposed changes would affect Europe’s emerging IPTV networks alongside new-fangled mobile multimedia and online games. The findings mirror the concerns of OFCOM.
The report, “Assessing Indirect Impacts of the EC Proposals for Video Regulation” makes a powerful case for the online games industry to be excluded from the new legislation, seeing a risk of the development of fresh gaming, moving to countries unfettered by cumbersome legislation, ie. Outside the EU.
The study also makes clear its’ worries that excessive regulation could mean that countries outside of the EU would benefit from the expected growth in non traditional delivery of multimedia content, before it has established itself in Europe.
The model of broadcast intervention could impact much of the new wave Internet traffic; judging Youtube and Myspace by similar criteria to traditional linear broadcasters
Lobbying is expected to continue with the entrenched traditional media industry hoping to protect dwindling revenues and state players keen to politicize the situation. Some solace can be taken that the UK regulator has at least identified the danger of over regulation.
27 September, 2006
US Web Half-Yearly Advertising Revenue Hits $8bn
U.S. Internet advertising revenue has hit a new record high of nearly $8 billion for first six months of the year, increasing by a money-spinning 37 per cent, according to a new study.
The figures from a report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers, suggest Internet advertising revenue has continued to surge, despite a recent warning by Yahoo that new media ad spending could be slowing.
Yahoo pointed to weaknesses in two key sectors in marketing – automobile and financial firms – although some analysts think that the claimed slowdown is more about Yahoo’s own business declining and is not symptomatic of an industry-wide trend.
“The latest results reaffirm the Internet’s growing importance for marketers to integrate online advertising into their overall media plans,” commented David Silverman, Partner, Entertainment & Media Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“While search advertising remains the largest format in terms of revenues, we expect to see new formats like video ads to continue to emerge as advertisers seek to leverage the branding opportunities afforded by the growing installed base of broadband users,” headded.
The IAB/ PricewaterhouseCoopers figures show that Internet advertising revenue totalled nearly $4.1 billion in the last quarter, representing a thumping a 36 percent increase over the same period last year, and up a healthy 5.5 percent over the first quarter of 2006.
The study also reports that search-related advertising rose 40 percent in the first half of 2006, with classified advertising rising 20 percent.
“With the seventh consecutive quarter of growth behind us we are confident that the Internet will continue to reconcile the imbalances between its share of media consumption versus its relative share of total advertising spend,” enthused Pete Petrusky, director, Entertainment & Media Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Elsewhere, the Online Publishers Association (which includes CNET, iVillage and Reuters), forecasted a rosy future for its members, saying that it expected online advertising grow about 28 percent for the third quarter, with most of its members “seeing strength in all advertising categories with no areas appearing to slow down.”
[Via Reuters]
26 September, 2006
Soapbox: Microsoft Takes Aim At YouTube
Microsoft is looking to shove its king sized oar into the massive successful user-generated video phenomenon with the launch of an online service to take on the likes of YouTube, Google and Yahoo.
Named Soapbox, the service enters beta testing today, and is expected to launch within six months as an integrated part of their current MSN Video service.
“We’re definitely not blind to the fact that YouTube has a big lead right now,” admitted Rob Bennett, general manager of MSN’s entertainment and video services.
He’s not wrong there either, with Nielsen/NetRatings reporting that YouTube scooped up 34 million visitors last month, while MSN Video could only muster some 12m.
In comparison, MySpace video notches up 17.9 million visitors a month with Google Video not far behind with 13.5 million each month.
With Microsoft’s vast reserves of cash to fall back on, it’s not surprising that Bennett is chirpy about their prospects, “It’s really early days in online video; this is still act one.”
Microsoft is running the beta trials by invitation only although users can apply on the website, which currently shows a kray-zeee video of some bloke prancing around in a silly MSN-style costume.
Woowargh! Those wacky Microsoft dudes!
The company says that the service will support a number of video file formats and delivery methods and run on both Windows and Apple operating systems with support for popular browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.
It’s obviously early days yet, but tech website Cnet were unimpressed with the Soapbox beta, declaring it “disappointing” and only “slightly better sharing service than YouTube in some small technical ways.”
MSN Soapbox
[Via: BBC]
21 September, 2006
LonelyGirl15: Rumbled By YouTube Fans
YouTube is continuing to get attention for the content it has on it. Not this time for alleged copyright violations, but for a young girl who has been appearing in videos about the trial and tribulations of her life. Her moniker? LonelyGirl15.
The controversy? She’s not what she might first appear.
At first glance it looked all very innocent. The videos are primarily shot from the corner of her room, where LonelyGirl15, or Bree as she called herself. talks about her parents, school activities, and consistent themes like, “proving science wrong”.
We’ve used LonelyGirl15 as an example of noteworthy content, when working with consultancy clients, helping them understand the shift that are continuing with media. We selected it because, we found it just a bit too questionable.
What raised our suspicions? It had always been shot on a video camera, high above a standard Web cam and edited in a self-consciously amateur fashion. The subjects she spoke about appeared just too ideal for the majority-male YouTube – geeky with relationship questions. Of course she was also very attractive. It was also strange that the music that was used in the tracks was always fully credited. We wondered if Bree was eventually going to start talking about products.
During a session, we showed her videos to senior advertising execs, they immediately smelt a rat with the way the Hiking piece had been shot. It convinced them it was manufactured.
It appears that some people who it also didn’t quite ring true for, did a bit of digging and found out that email responses from LonelyGirl15 actually came from within Hollywood powerhouse talent agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Hmmm… the mystery deepens. More details of what has been discovered are available in the LATimes article.
Discussion in the blogosphere continues as to the legitimacy of LonelyGirl15, with a popular theory being that it’s a creation to promote a horror film.
LonelyGirl15
14 September, 2006
Sky Broadband DRM Woes Halt Films
Sky has hit the pause button on delivering films (known by some as movies) and sport via their Sky By Broadband service, due to cracks in Microsoft’s Windows Media DRM software.
Sky has put an announcement on their site,
In order to make an essential update to the Sky by broadband security system, we are sorry that access to all movies and some sports content has been temporarily suspended. This does not affect your computer and content can still be bookmarked for future use. We will keep you posted on progress and apologise for any inconvenience.
Clearly being a big bash for the service, it must be of great embarrassment for all concerned. Content owners from around the world – especially those within the News International family, Fox, etc – will be throwing a dizzy fit, having bought the technologies companies long-lasting pitch that DRM is essential for the survival of the content biz. You see, most of them feel their clients are not to be trusted with the content,that they’re so used to having.
Background
A couple of weeks ago, a little software app called FreeUse4WM appeared, that stripped the Digital Rights Management (DRM) from any content, be that audio or video, held in the Windows Media format.
Following this, Microsoft threw people at fixing the problems – they had to, as it laid bare all of the content that it was supposed to protect. Sitting back with a smug look on their faces (we imagine), they must have choked on their latte’s when version 1.2 of FreeUse4WM came out, cracking the DRM and exposing the content again. It’s understood that Microsoft are working on the fix for v1.2.
Security of all sorts is just a game of cat and mouse, with no absolute guarantees – security company created protection
12 September, 2006