Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has made enemy after enemy in recent years after continuing to aggregate news and information sources to ensure customers can find the information they want, any time and on any device.
When Google News was launched, it became a target for publishers who believed that Google was somehow pilfering content. These folks still do not get it, especially media baron Rupert Murdoch. It's odd, since Murdoch seemingly gets new media.
Murdoch still believes that Google is stealing copyrights from publishers, when in fact Google is sending loads of traffic to websites that most likely would never have seen such a bump in traffic without Google's help. Who would not want to be included in Google's information index? Apparently, Rupert Murdoch. Either that, or he wants Google to pay him to send his online publications traffic. Wow.
Google could always drop from its index the publishers who expect to be compensated and send all that traffic instead to those who understand that Google is helping, not hurting. Clearly, distribution channels of information have changed rapidly and economic models of the past are deteriorating. Would Google suffer if it eliminated or greatly reduced access to Murdoch's news properties? Probably not -- customers would just be directed elsewhere. And, with GOOG shares sitting at over $368 this morning, investors still understand Google's core value: lining up customers, feeding them information and sending them where they need to go as fast as possible -- showing relevant advertising along the way. Murdoch can't change that.
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