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Science Fact: The "Google Grid" of
EPIC 2014 Takes Shape |
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26 September 2005 |
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As Google prepares to assemble and test a new content
distribution network the content industry is caught like a
deer in the headlights trying to figure out the
implications of this initiative. Is this the beginning of
the "Google Grid," that omnipresent publishing environment
foreseen in "EPIC 2014", the online sci-fi multimedia
presentation that emerged last fall? It could be that
and much more if Google succeeds in deploying a network
environment that creates a new world of highly localized
content monetization. Be prepared for publishing business
models to take yet another bumpy ride along the road of
change as the "there" of content moves ever further from
central control. |
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About a year ago Jeff Cutler brought to my attention the online multimedia presentation "EPIC 2014", a science fiction look at how Google would advance the Web into a continuous global grid of content and connectivity. In our weblog at that time I noted that science fiction oftentimes comes true far sooner than its creators would like to think. Today CNET News notes that many of the elements of the "Google Grid" global environment are beginning to fall into place as it unveils piece by piece their plans for a unique global computing network,
in large part wireless, that would provide secure and presumably user-free access to the Web and Google services. Providing highly localized content in this environment is one of the projected keys to its success. As noted by Reuters some of the bits supporting this forthcoming service are available for download.
What will this new presence look like? A contributor to paidContent.org using an existing service at local shops in San Francisco posted some interesting
conjectures. With free access at at a Borders bookstore you get offers to sample content designed by Borders to complement its local retail offerings, while at a Starbucks the offers relate to merchandise available in their local outlets. It's the intersection of advertising and merchandising, adding value to a real-world venue as a key component of the content delivery experience. But there's also something far greater than local merchandising that will be served by Google's new network. In the CNET article search engine expert Steve Arnold concludes that Google aims to serve up software services and applications from their network, obsolescing the Microsoft-centric application environment for something more network-centric - and, by virtue of owning that network, Google-centric.
Steve's on to something without a doubt.
But I think that Google will go beyond replacing desktop applications as a goal. As content and software services merge into common XML-based objects, the lines between publishing and technology services are shifting rapidly.
Salesforce.com is an increasingly sophisticated example of how
premium content and network-based software services can blend into a single valuable package without I.T. expertise or involvement required.
At Shore we call these rapidly evolving packages of Web
services "payloads" - digital objects that are a blend of
content and technology sent by content providers into a user's
orbit that evolve into context-specific services as they are
passed from one context to another. Services such as
Zinio hint
at what interactive, rights-protected payloads could be in a
general sense, but with Google's context-sensitive network
payloads are going to become far more sophisticated than mere
multimedia magazines.
How are content products likely to evolve
in a Google-managed, location- and user-sensitive Web? Here are
a few quick thoughts as to what kinds of payloads are going to
come to light:
- Breaking the chains of
distribution. While many media companies will balk at the
idea of free access to a content network, Google has hit upon
a key component that will compel content companies to rethink
using proprietary network "choke points" as a way to enforce
content licensing regimes. A ubiquitous Google-sponsored Web
will disintegrate highly centralized distribution control as
a mainstream electronic content business model once and for
all, forcing most content companies to shift to monetizing
content at its destination rather than at its source. We've
heard for some time how every page is a home page for a Web
site. In the Google network era every page brought down to a
local context via the Google network will become its own
local Web service, enabled for commerce by virtue of where
it's wound up rather than from where it was sent.
- All publishing becomes local.
The concept of location-specific ads and merchandising for
consumer goods is just the tip of an enormous iceberg that's
being opened up by a location-sensitive network such as
Google's new enterprise. Content itself is a key consumer
good that will benefit greatly from a ubiquitous content
distribution network that knows how to tailor content to
individuals in specific locations automatically. Why go to a
newsstand or coffee shop to pick up a mass-produced newspaper
when it can be the perfect place to pick up a
custom-published magazine or electronic content object that's
just right for your immediate needs - while you pick up some
content-sponsored coffee and empty calories. Delivering
publishing in both physical and electronic forms will still
be an important retail service, but with Google's omnipresent
network virtually any location can leverage the value of
publishing to make that location peculiarly worth visiting.
- Turning media models on their
heads. Yahoo!'s aggressive pursuit of original content
sources is certainly shrewd positioning for a shifting media
landscape in which uniqueness is key to profits. But at the
end of the day it's still a model focused on bringing people
to a central repository of content. There will always be a
desire to experience content, communities and major events
accessible from a centralized source, but the emergence of
the Google network publishing model challenges publishers to
be able to make content as relevant as possible in as many
distributed environments as possible. Such an environment
encourages unique content to flow into and from as many
different sources as possible into local environments to find
their value. With decentralized locations and content objects
becoming the focal point of advertising and subscription
management, the wisdom of building destination content
megasites becomes a little suspect.
Lots can happen to derail the rollout of
Google's new network, but it's amazing how quickly their plans
are unfolding with apparent thoughtfulness. It makes one think
that they've been thinking of this rather deeply for a long
time. We may never be privy to the real shape of Google's
master plan in its entirety, but at its early stages the
Google network promises to accelerate changes to the publishing
industry about as much as the browser started to transform
publishing some ten years ago. Some computer and
telecommunications companies are bound to have to do some
thinking as well, I am sure - but that's for another EPIC film
to detail.
-
John Blossom
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