Google News: How Can It Make Money? - Another Possible Solution
(Page 5 of 5 )
Another way Google could walk the tight rope into profitability is by doing something they've refused to do with their search engine: pay for results. News services like the rather Google-prominent Xinhua News Service (http://www.xinhua.cn), the official news service for the government of the People's Republic of China, and smaller news services could pay the search engine to ensure higher rankings for their articles. After all, who ever goes past the first page of news on the site? Sites looking for exposure would then have a leg up on larger sites that would refuse to pay for the service, gaining readership and increasing profits from ads on their sites.
The problem here then becomes the integrity of the search. How accurate and relevant, is it, really? And would taking payment for putting certain news before others violate any unwritten journalistic code of ethics? Is Google even responsible for adhering to that code? If they're reporting news, then yes, within limitations. Some argue that the company's treatment of the government sponsored and controlled Xinhua as a legitimate news service is in itself a violation of any unwritten rules regarding ethics or accuracy in journalism.
In addition, this move might make the company seem less Internet community friendly and more like a bully who thinks that just because it's got a name and influence that it's "above the law", so to speak. Sure, they can try to use their weight alone and bully people into paying them, but that would rely heavily on perception: how important are they, really? With competition coming from MSN's Newsbot, any strong-arming in this direction would automatically mean a major boost for Google's main competitor.
In the end, does Google News need to make money? I know, heresy for me to say that a company would actually provide a valuable service and not try to capitalize on it. But the truth is that it already has. By mere virtue of its existence and popularity, the service is providing the company with the type of marketing business owners most crave: word of mouth advertising, something the company has excelled in lately. (Remember Gmail?) And by increasing the company's image as a friend of the Internet community, that service helps boost loyalty toward the companies other products.
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
/ 8 
