Bill,
With the old guard media giants beginning to migrate to the web, e.g. nytimes.com, how do you feel this will affect the SEs (search engines)? Wont the old guard have a huge advantage when it comes to content (leveraging their libraries) and their ability to offer potential advertisers cross-media exposure? As the net gets faster, wont their competitive advantage grow even stronger as video on demand gets to be a reality? How will the SEs and AOL compete if they do not have unique proprietary content? So far, the SEs have been clever in attracting people to their sites through unique techniques of aggregating data and building online communities. But they have been bid up to unsustainable levels IMHO on the expectation that they are the media networks of the future. The SEs have come out of the gate like sprinters, but this is a marathon, not a 50 yard dash. There may be switching costs as people invest some time and effort in personalizing their sites, but no real barriers to entry. And when it comes to entry, who can compete with the spending power of NBC, CBS, FOX or CNN? Heck, Yahoo's entire budget is buffalo feed for Ted Turner.
Would appreciate your thoughts as I detect that you have been astutely friendly toward the group, but can appreciate the fact that most miners don't strike gold. BTW, any implications for the pick and shovel vendors, like DCLK, in the above ramblings?
SC |
