Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 21:08:23 -0800
From: Sam Pierce <scpierce at gmail.com>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at wsfa.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: books on google, and the copyright implications
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 11:07:52 -0500, Scott Hofmann
<shofmann at mindspring.com> wrote:

> The short of it is that as long as the service remains free and "beta" Google
> is reasonably safe from lawsuits but the moment they make money from it they're
> going to be hit by a number of lawsuits from big companies with deep pockets.

But they are making money from it right now.  Google news indexes the
web editions of 4,500 news sources, and then offers links take you to
those sites.  Any guess how many of those sites display Google ads?

Nothing nefarious, as I'm sure Google doesn't present links based on
advertising.  However, given 1) the simplicity and speed of their ads,
compared to banners with fancy graphics, 2) the relevance of the ads
to the presented information, and 3) their generous revenue sharing
with the site when a surfer clicks though on the ad, Google ads appear
to dominate the news sites.  Even the New York Times displays Google
ads.

And this service is provided by a corporate entity with a stated
policy of "do no evil" which the Googlers embrace with zeal.

A better question is to ask why they should remove the "beta" label?
What would they gain for an already free service?

         -- sam