Insider Chatter by Donna Bogatin

Sheryl Sandberg is a top Googler no more. Now, Sandberg has the good (she hopes) fortune of being Mark Zuckerberg’s right hand woman. 

While the media world hails how Sandberg can apply her Googley AdWords and AdSense knowledge to build out a ”new kind of advertising network,” a Facebook kind, the real Googley transference to Facebook will be much more powerful, pervasive and, in good Google fashion, scary.

Why does Zuckerberg really want Sandberg close at hand? The still wet around the ears Facebook CEO is emphatic, about his global domination mission:

“Sheryl understands Facebook’s goal of connecting everyone in the world and is passionate about building a business that will enable us to realize this mission.”

So there Google, YOUR global domination mission to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible” is SO yesterday, for Sheryl Sandberg!

Why the whole world ought to beware, of Facebook AND Google:

The REAL Google (and Facebook) Nightmares: Eternal Data Traps and
Facebook Davos PR Blitz: Beware Scoble Hype, Users Still at BIG Risk and
2008 Social Media Warning: Beware Google AND Facebook

ALSO: Spot Runner Ad Agency: Google Sans $139 billion Search Engine? 

PLUS: SILICON ALLEY TECH PARTY

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN

Are Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s ears ringing? After all, Spot Runner CEO Nick Grouf is borowing his Googley one-stop online advertising agency lines!

Grouf announces SpotRunner’s acquisition of SEM firm Weblsitic:

“This acquisition further strengthens our leadership position as the comprehensive resource for the full spectrum of local businesses’ advertising needs. Our objective is to help businesses drive awareness and attract new customers through multiple media channels, in an integrated manner, and online advertising is a top priority for us and for our clients.”

The SotRunner goal is to offer a “complete solution”: ”including media planning and buying for TV, radio and online,” because, Spot Runner assures:

TV and Internet advertising, when utilized together, have proven to be a particularly effective combination. According to Jupiter Research, TV advertising is the number one impetus for people to search for a particular company or product online, surpassing all other forms of advertising.

Remember when the Googler-In-Chief’s favorite fantasy was a multi-million dollar “complete solution” one:

The long-term fantasy is we walk up to you and you give us, say $10 million and we’ll completely allocate it for you across different media and ad types.

Long-term is apparently VERY long-term, though, as Google’s billions remain steadfastly 99% “traditional” AdWords and AdSense pure, as I steadfastly report:

SEE Google CEO In-Car Radio Ad Vision Fading and
Google TV Ads Auction: NO AdWords Buyer’s Remorse and
Google Execs Silent On NYC Print, Radio, TV Promises and
MySpace To Google: Learn How To Sell Advertising, OMMA Report and
MySpace To Google (Round 2): Text Clicks Do NOT Rule! VideoEgg Report and
The Web Economy Rejoices: Google IS Overrated and Due For BIGGER Fall!

If Google is not easily able to achieve one-stop online ad agency domination, does SpotRunner have a realistic shot? Unlikely.

Google has ONE very big advantage over SpotRunner, a $139 billion dollar one: Google owns the number one search engine inventory SpotRunner needs to resell! Reseller status is NOT a winning ad sales formula, just ask Google: Google Radio, Google Print, Google TV, Google MySpace…

Nevertheless, Ketan Shah, CEO of Weblistic, confirms his “passion” for “making online advertising easy and turnkey for small and medium-sized businesses.”

Unfortunately for new coproprate parent Spot Runner, however, local passion is hard to monetize.

MORE: Spot Runner Sells For Rival Google: Local SEM Bandwagon Grows and Local Video Ads Battle: YellowPages.com Taps TurnHere, Spot Runner Gets 1200 TV Producers

PLUS: Yellow Pages Get Reprieve? The Myth of King Google Local Advertising ROI and
Reach Local Advertising? How Google Squeezes SEMs and AdWords Buyers and
Local Ad Sales War: Why Google is a Guaranteed Winner and
Google AdWords Plus Box: Local CPC Bidding War Unleashed! and
Google Apps & Maps: Enterprise and Local Business STILL Missing and
Local Advertising Online: SMEs Hold the Billion Dollar Keys, ILM ANALYSIS 

PLUS: PAY PER BLOG? WHAT KILLER BUSINESS MODEL

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN

Microsoft expands in the cloud. 

The Google brand was built off of free lunches. Nevertheless, contrary to conventional blogosphere wisdom, Google is NOT “eating Microsoft’s lunch” in the enterprise cloud.

Google Apps is, literally, a joke in the enterprise, as I reported first hand from the Enterprise Search Summit one year ago and reiterate with each and every not so shock and awe Googley move that responds to serious, proprietary, secure enterprise computing needs with sophmoric, entry-level, shared software devoid of serious functionality and mocking of enterprise-class security and privacy.

Google Sites is but the latest laughable attempt at a Googley consumerization of the enterprise. While geeks gone wild was the tech early adopter blogosphere embrace of a cutesy, template-driven free, Google online Web site service, I underscored how any enterprise foolish enough to use Google Sites, would end up getting what it paid for: NOTHING!

SEE: Why Google Sites Is BAD Business: ‘Til Death Do Us Part’?

Microsoft announces today:

the company will offer Microsoft Online Services to businesses of all sizes. This announcement marks a significant step for Microsoft toward expanding its software plus services strategy.

Geeks are NOT going wild, however, egging Microsoft on for a (food) fight mano a mano with Google solely in the cloud. Will a day ever come that software WILL solely be delivered in the cloud? Unlikley. Microsoft is laying a foundation for a rational, online-offline, complementary enterprise exploitation of software assets. 

The stand alone, free Google cloud is NOT enterprise friendly. The stark reality of Google Terms Of Service:

You agree that Google has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any Content and other communications maintained or transmitted by Google services. You acknowledge that Google may have set no fixed upper limit on the number of transmissions you may send or receive through Google services or the amount of storage space used; however, we retain the right, at our sole discretion, to create limits at any time with or without notice.

Google reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, Google services (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that Google shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of Google services.

The Microsoft BETA Terms Of Service acknowledge the offline reality of serious business: 

You are responsible for maintaining and backing up your data that you create, use and store with the service. You are responsible for ensuring that you maintain your primary means of business.

If a business relies on the free Google cloud to maintain its primary means of business, it risks being out of business!

MORE ON THE VERY RISKY GOOGLE “ENTERPRISE”:

There Is NO Google Apps Love in the Enterprise and
Postini: Will Google REALLY Mean Enterprise Apps Business? and
Google Chokes with Postini: Billion Dollar Office Apps Giveaway and
TINY Google Web Services Lag BIG Microsoft Business and
Google Confirms: Enterprise Apps is NO Microsoft Office Killer and
Schmidt to Ballmer: Stop Stealing MY Office Collaboration Lines! and
Microsoft Office Thunder to Blast Google Apps Cloud and
IBM Confirms: Google Poses NO Enterprise Threat

PLUS: PAY PER BLOG? WHAT KILLER BUSINESS MODEL 

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN

Poor CNET? The latest woe of the vintage online property: A staff writer ”reports” being jilted at a cross-country media altar by Google CEO Eric Schmidt, even while acknowledging the “absurdity of flying 2,500 miles to interview a guy who works about 40 miles from” her office.

Nevertheless, CNET Editor-In-Chief, newly bumped up Dan Farber, jumps on Elinor Mill’s personal bandwagon, even while acknowledging the CNET approved “dispatch” of a CNET writer to “Mickey Mouse” land, apparently with little more than naive dreams of Google headline glory for backup.

Farber likens Schmidt to Putin for ”stonewalling,” echoing Mill’s protestations that she was unexpectedly “stunted” by the Google CEO, despite ardently having ”always wanted to interview Google CEO Eric Schmidt one-on-one.”

Mills admits she got her chance, and, incredulously, offers up a public play-by-play on how she blew it!

Contrary to the CNET double-team against Schmidt, the Google CEO “one-on-one” accorded the CNET staffer was not a fiasco because of what Farber suggests is Google arrogance. It is CNET’s Mills who dropped the ball on her shot at Googley glory by being unable to pose any in-depth, significant questions about the known purpose of the supposed CNET “exclusive”: A discussion of Google Health.

Mills claims she ”dove in with several probing questions about Google Health.” CNET’s version of “probing questions,” however, present as softball opportunites for Eric Schmidt to talk standard Google Health speak. What’s more, Mills neglected to pursue follow-up question opportunities to gain real, new, hard data and information.

The first (not so) hard hitting Google Health question Mills asked of Schmidt: “Was it difficult for Google to get health industry players like Aetna, Quest Diagnostics, and Walgreens onboard?”

Mills reports of Schmidt’s response:

“It took a while,” he said, adding that Google lined up health experts to be on an advisory health council and they are integrating their systems to work with Google’s GData. “It was OK. It wasn’t that hard.”

IT WAS OK. IT WASN’T THAT HARD are non-answers, not deserving of publication. Mills ought to have continued on: Why did it take a while? Were obstacles encountered? What objections were raised? Has any organization declined to collaborate? If yes, why?

Also, GDATA: What about it? How will the “integration” work? How will privacy and security be protected by Google? Mills ought to have really probed.

The CNET-Google problem is NOT that Eric Schmidt only had 12 minutes to only discuss Google Health with a CNET staffer. The Google-CNET problem is that Elinor Mills failed to take professional advantage of the opportunity she had to contribute to enhancing public knowledge about the real workings of Google’s Health initiative.

CEO Eric Schmidt himself alluded to Mill’s less than insightful queries:

I don’t think you have highlighted sufficiently the platform characteristic of this. Everyone is assuming it is personal health record…I think of it as a platform upon which many services can be built and it is through that platform that the real innovation occurs.

Here at Insider Chatter, I have indeed been investigating the platform wars that consumer-facing online health applications are engendering. For example, I scooped Microsoft’s Health Vault solicitation to Google to collaborate with the Microsoft platform!

SEE:  Health Vault: Hey, Google, Get With the Microsoft Medical Program! and Microsoft Seeks Healthy Relationship with Google: Health Vault INTERVIEW

Is Google open to Microsoft HealthVault’s openness though? Not likely. On the very day of Eric Schmidt’s keynote at HMSS in Florida, the Microsoft Health Vault team confirmed to me:  There’s been no formal conversations to-date between Google Health and Microsoft.

MORE:  Why Google Sites Is BAD Business: ‘Til Death Do Us Part’? and Microsoft Flexes Enterprise Muscle: What Google Apps Revolution? and Spot Runner Ad Agency: Google Sans $139 billion Search Engine? and Facebook: Why Sheryl Sandberg is a Perfect Googley Fit

PLUS: PAY PER BLOG? WHAT KILLER BUSINESS MODEL?

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN 

The comScore CEO doth protest too much?

After taking what he acknowledges is the “unusual step” of personally penning eight long blog paragraphs of comScore (exceedingly favorable) “opinion” about the financial performance of a publicly traded behemoth, Google, he returns to the comScore blog to comment on his own post!

Magid Abraham insists he has “not heard a single word” from Google subsequent to GOOG taking a multi-billion dollar hit “thanks” to a non-public comScore “report” on Google’s internal operations. The disclaimer rings as true as his VP of communications declaring at the comScore blog that another comScore “study” has determined “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that cookies are deleted by 31% of Internet users on any given month. SEE:  comScore Web Power Grab: Google Data Games and Cookie Monster

In defending comScore’s interference in the public markets today, Abraham is not only gaga over GOOG’s future, but he seems to be inspired by Google’s own PR strategy to boot. Abraham asserts a defense of the “interests of the overall Internet industry”!

HOW INSPIRING? A gesture as genuinely noble as Google rising “to the defense” of the entire Internet industry by publicly trashing its number one competitor for attemtping to team up with Google’s number two opponent? 

“We felt compelled to make these clarifications because the data was being used to draw incorrect conclusions,” Abraham claims. comScore, though, is NOT making any clarifications about its proprietary data which ought to be at the core of the “entire matter.” Abraham rallies for Google’s internal method of operations by echoing Google’s own circular claims that what is good for Google is good for consumers and good for marketers. comScore aims to tell us more about what goes on at the Googleplex then about what data magic it concocts itself in good old Reston!

Abraham says “It is important to emphasize that we are not repudiating our own data.” REALLY? Then why doesn’t he release to the public comScore’s “own data” that he is spending so much time (inapproriately, by his own suggestion) defending to the publc?

The comScore’s concluding (for now) statment on the “entire matter”:

Our data remains unchanged, and, we believe, correct. We are just offering a more thorough analysis to ensure the information is interpreted correctly and that the proper conclusions are being drawn from it.

WOW! First the top spokesperson for comScore characterizes a comScore report (that is contested within the industry) as being an irrefutable reflection of the Web’s reality, “beyond a reasonable doubt,” and now the comScore CEO informs the entire world that it is he, and he alone, that certainly knows what “proper conclusions” are to be drawn about a non-public comScore “report” on the non-public operations of a third-party company!

The entire world, in fact, ought to be skeptical of everything the comScore CEO says regarding the purported “correct conculsions” he says should be drawn from a secret comScore document.

If Magid Abraham’s ultimate concern was truly transparency for the sake of “the entire Internet,” he would RELEASE THE ”January 2008 qSearch paid click report” TO THE PUBLIC, NOW!

Abraham’s blog comment to his own post is disingenuous. If comScore’s concerns are really only that “the softening of the online advertising market, while at first glance is supported by a data sound bite like a “drop in paid clicks”, does not hold water once you dig deeper into the more detailed information provided in the paid click data,” the Abraham blog post would not be headlined “Google” and comScore would not have waxed poetic for eight paragraphs about a Google sales pitch for its “own program for improving the quality of paid listings.”

In Abraham’s own words: “All indicators point to the company continuing to do very well as far as consumer usage and competitive position…Google wins by providing more relevant ads for consumers and a less cluttered ad environment for marketers…which helps explain Google’s continued overall query growth and share dominance.

ALL HAIL GOOGLE, including comScore!

MORE: comScore Web Power Grab: Google Data Games and Cookie Monster AND The Web Economy Rejoices: Google IS Overrated and Due For BIGGER Fall!

PLUS: PR Agencies: The Next Digital Casualty? and Google vs. Microsoft: The REAL Health Platform War Story

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN

What a mighty data sword comScore brandishes!

comScore’s chief marketing spokesperson, Marv Pollack, last week publicly decried a purported “ugly reality” of “using site server data for media planning,” an unsurprising self-serving lambast against Web properties’ internal tracking systems aimed at a comScore-centric propping up of “people-based information.” Polllack is unequivocal:

“The most deleterious problem with site server data is caused by cookie deletion. An important comScore study published last year showed — beyond a shadow of a doubt — that 31% of Internet users delete their cookies in a month and that the average cookie deleter does so four times per month.”

REALLY? Given that Pollack studied economics at Princeton University, it is surprsing that he would hail a comScore “study” to be irrefutable, claiming absoluteness “beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

comScore’s “numbers” are in fact routinely doubted. Last year, Randall Rothenberg, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, publicly confronted comScore’s CEO, Magid Abraham, about the inability of “sample-based research” to get “an exact count.”

At a recent behavioral advertising conference in New York City, the keynote Internet publisher told me comScore’s claims of double digit cookie deletion wildly overstate the observed behavior of individuals online.

Today, the CEO of comScore takes to his corporate blog to publicly attempt to undue the Google damage his company did in private earlier in the week.

When the “news” of comScore’s ”January 2008 qSearch paid click report” surfaced on Tuesday, via third-party “reports” of third-party commentary on what was purportedly in the supposed comScore client report, I immediately went to comScore.com to read its “January 2008 qSearch paid click report” first-hand.

No such document is publicly available at the comScore Website, however, so I relied on my own ongoing, proprietary analysis of GOOG’s propsects and concluded: The Web Economy Rejoices: Google IS Overrated and Due For BIGGER Fall!

Is comScore’s Abraham now feeling remorse for having seemingly spurred multi-billion dollar depreciation of GOOG? Did Eric Schmidt and company make a non-surprising suggestion to Abraham that he offer a ”less surprsing” more “careful analysis” of comScore’s GOOG moving numbers?

Abraham’s “clarification” of a supposedly misinterpreted comScore communication about Google’s internal operational performance presents as a long-winded version of a Google earnings call cheerleading its own financial performance. The CEO of comScore is unabashed in his public support of Google–and, consequently, of GOOG.

The CEO of comScore personally vouches for what he deems to be evidence of Google’s “clever design”: 

the softness in Google’s paid click metrics is primarily a result of Google’s own quality initiatives

the improved revenue yield will continue to deliver strong revenue growth in the first quarter.

continuing to do very well as far as consumer usage and competitive position.

In fact, Google wins by providing more relevant ads for consumers and a less cluttered ad environment for marketers.

Not convinced yet? Abraham graciously includes a live, bolded link to Google.com, directing all his comScore blog readers to a Google AdWords sales pitch for its generous “policies”!

ADVERTISERS BEWARE THOUGH, of Google, and now, comScore’s thumbs up for Google’s AdWords mulit-billion dollar agenda.

HERE AT INSIDER CHATTER, READERS ARE WARNED OF HOW Google Tightens Screws on Advertisers: AdWords Black Box Gets Blacker

More exclusive analysis of the MYTH of an allmighty, benevolent Google:

Why Advertisers LOSE In Publicis, Google SEM Deal and
Yellow Pages Get Reprieve? The Myth of King Google Local Advertising ROI and
Reach Local Advertising? How Google Squeezes SEMs and AdWords Buyers and
Local Ad Sales War: Why Google is a Guaranteed Winner and
Google AdWords Plus Box: Local CPC Bidding War Unleashed! and
Google Apps & Maps: Enterprise and Local Business STILL Missing and
Google Zeitgeist: $200 University Payola AdWords Scam and
How Google AdSense FAILS Better Business Bureau 

UPDATE: Magid Abraham: Long On Google, Short on comScore!

ALSO: PR Agencies: The Next Digital Casualty? and Google vs. Microsoft: The REAL Health Platform War Story

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN