Why Google’s homepage antics are more serious than they appear

on August 29, 2012

Google’s use of its homepage to advertise its own products and display pop-up birthday reminders for its Google+ network on its homepage may seem like just an annoyance, but each step the company takes toward promoting its own offerings raises more red flags for antitrust regulators.

paidContent turns 10: A brief history of digital media

on July 25, 2012

Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix (s NFLX) thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002.

Google’s Zagat buy could give search critics more ammo

on September 9, 2011

Google’s purchase of Zagat is a small deal, but the ripples it creates could be much larger — the purchase takes Google even further into the area of content ownership, and that could give “search neutrality” advocates and the FTC more ammunition against the company.

Google buys Zagat to add people power to its algorithms

on September 8, 2011

Google has bought restaurant ratings publisher Zagat, in a deal whose value hasn’t been disclosed. The deal helps Google bring in a source of recommendations and user generated content that meshes well with its engineering-centric culture and could boost Zagat’s profile among the digerati.