With Google in the crosshairs of some Internet content providers, such as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., it’s unsurprising that Google would feel compelled to add its two-cents worth to the debate. It turns out, from Google’s perspective, its efforts are largely misunderstood. It is not, as commonly portrayed, a monster in the ether, devouring all it encounters, but rather a benign and useful acolyte ready to serve users and content providers alike.

Danny Sullivan, of Search Engine Land, relates an extensive interview with Josh Cohen, Google’s business product manager. In it Cohen says that Google isn’t hellbent on forcing content providers to index their content, and provide it to users free of charge, but rather is willing to work with content providers in any way they way, including not linking to their content at all. Cohen says that Google offers four levels of service content providers can use, ranging from free access to content to indexing of previews or summaries, with full-content only possible through registration or payment. Google would like to see as much open content as possible, Cohen explains, but is willing to cooperate "one hundred percent" with providers to implement the level of access they want.

However, Cohen interjects, the idea of pay-to-view content isn’t necessarily the best option, even for content providers intent on maximizing revenue. Google users tend to shy away from content with strings attached. So much so that Google’s search algorithm, which mimics users desires in search results, deemphasizes sites with paywalls. Cohen argues that, at a minimum, visibility is key, even behind a paywall: “I would argue even more important if you’re putting content behind a paywall, because all of a sudden, depending on your model, again, you’re potentially shrinking your potential base of users. So you want to increase the size of that funnel, you don’t want to restrict it even further.”

 

Image Credit: Google

Tagged with: • • • •

Filed under: News

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!