| Mon, Jun 01, 2009 |
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Asda Giving Free Music With Clothes (Wear Your Art On Your Sleeve)
So it’s come to this - the music industry is finding it so hard to sell tunes anymore, the world’s biggest label, Universal, is now giving away downloads when Asda customers buy clothes from the supermarket’s budget George range of apparel.
Not just any old clothes, though - a new slogan range has been manufactured bearing lines from key label tracks, like “Born To Be Wild” and “The Boys Are Back In Town” (just the thing to be seen in this summer in Benidorm). Each item comes with a free download from George.com. Retail Week says Asda has an option to take the idea to stores of its parent Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) in the US.
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| Wed, May 13, 2009 |
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The Inside Word: Search Executive Accuses Google Of Being Copycat
Today, we introduce a new weekly feature, The Inside Word, that looks at unusual industry debates and discussions unfolding on the blogs of employees at digital-media companies.
Poster: Mike Markson (pictured, right)
Blog name: Marskonland
Company: Blekko
Backstory: Blekko is a search-engine startup expected to go live this summer. The company, whose investors include Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, argues that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) was built to index a version of the web that no longer exists—“a web where people still engaged in social linking behavior, for one thing.” Last week, another stealth search engine, Wolfram Alpha, made its public debut.
Blog Entry: Markson says that on the same day that Wolfram Alpha launched its search engine, which can (among other things) find and compare online data, Google introduced a similar feature. He cites other examples where, he says, Google has quickly copied would-be rivals. Two weeks after Wikia Search went public, for instance, Google started testing a similar feature, Markson writes. And a month after yet another search startup, Cuil, started putting longer snippets in its results, Google did the same, Markson says.
The point: “Can you imagine Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) making wholesale changes to its stores because (a) mom and pop store on the corner implemented some neat features for its customers?” Markson says in his blog post.
Counter-point: Google’s Matt Cutts responds to each of Markson’s examples on his own blog, saying essentially that the overlaps were coincidental and that Google had these products in the works well before the other companies introduced them. “Don’t get me wrong: I think Google can move quickly, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. But it doesn’t seem fair to say we’re trying to steal someone’s thunder if (for example) our longer snippets came first,” he says.
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| Tue, May 12, 2009 |
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The Inside Word: Search Executive Accuses Google Of Being Copycat
Today, we introduce a new weekly feature, The Inside Word, that looks at unusual industry debates and discussions unfolding on the blogs of employees at digital-media companies.
Poster: Mike Markson (pictured, right)
Blog name: Marskonland
Company: Blekko
Backstory: Blekko is a search-engine startup expected to go live this summer. The company, whose investors include Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, argues that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) was built to index a version of the web that no longer exists—“a web where people still engaged in social linking behavior, for one thing.” Last week, another stealth search engine, Wolfram Alpha, made its public debut.
Blog Entry: Markson says that on the same day that Wolfram Alpha launched its search engine, which can (among other things) find and compare online data, Google introduced a similar feature. He cites other examples where, he says, Google has quickly copied would-be rivals. Two weeks after Wikia Search went public, for instance, Google started testing a similar feature, Markson writes. And a month after yet another search startup, Cuil, started putting longer snippets in its results, Google did the same, Markson says.
The point: “Can you imagine Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) making wholesale changes to its stores because (a) mom and pop store on the corner implemented some neat features for its customers?” Markson says in his blog post.
Counter-point: Google’s Matt Cutts responds to each of Markson’s examples on his own blog, saying essentially that the overlaps were coincidental and that Google had these products in the works well before the other companies introduced them. “Don’t get me wrong: I think Google can move quickly, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. But it doesn’t seem fair to say we’re trying to steal someone’s thunder if (for example) our longer snippets came first,” he says.
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paidContent.org
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The Inside Word: Search Executive Accuses Google Of Being Copycat
Today, we introduce a new weekly feature, The Inside Word, that looks at unusual industry debates and discussions unfolding on the blogs of employees at digital-media companies.
Poster: Mike Markson (pictured, right)
Blog name: Marskonland
Company: Blekko
Backstory: Blekko is a search-engine startup expected to go live this summer. The company, whose investors include Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, argues that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) was built to index a version of the web that no longer exists—“a web where people still engaged in social linking behavior, for one thing.” Last week, another stealth search engine, Wolfram Alpha, made its public debut.
Blog Entry: Markson says that on the same day that Wolfram Alpha launched its search engine, which can (among other things) find and compare online data, Google introduced a similar feature. He cites other examples where, he says, Google has quickly copied would-be rivals. Two weeks after Wikia Search went public, for instance, Google started testing a similar feature, Markson writes. And a month after yet another search startup, Cuil, started putting longer snippets in its results, Google did the same, Markson says.
The point: “Can you imagine Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) making wholesale changes to its stores because (a) mom and pop store on the corner implemented some neat features for its customers?” Markson says in his blog post.
Counter-point: Google’s Matt Cutts responds to each of Markson’s examples on his own blog, saying essentially that the overlaps were coincidental and that Google had these products in the works well before the other companies introduced them. “Don’t get me wrong: I think Google can move quickly, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. But it doesn’t seem fair to say we’re trying to steal someone’s thunder if (for example) our longer snippets came first,” he says.
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paidContent.org
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| Tue, May 05, 2009 |
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Trent Reznor Tees Off On Apple
Trent Reznor isn’t one to shy away from taking on the man. He self-releases his albums digitally through his website and often allows fans to sample his music for free in re-mixes. Now, he’s taking on Apple (NSDQ: AAPL). In the Nine Inch Nails blog Reznor tells how iTunes wouldn’t accept his latest iPhone app, nin: access, because it allows users to listen to the album The Downward Spiral, which Apple deemed offensive. Reznor says that he was puzzled because the album The Downward Spiral isn’t even available on his app.
Reznor compares iTunes’ standards to those of his old nemesis Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT)—back in ‘90s, Rezor refused to censor his music sold at Wal-Mart to conform with the company’s decency standards: “Wal-Mart went on a rampage years ago insisting all music they carry be censored of all profanity and ‘clean’ versions be made for them to carry…I can understand if you want the moral posturing of not having any ‘indecent’ material for sale. But you could literally turn around 180 degrees from where the NIN record would be and purchase the film Scarface completely uncensored, or buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto where you can be rewarded for beating up prostitutes. How does that make sense?”
We have a call in to Apple, and will add the company’s take on this if and when we hear back.
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