Dvorak on Google and AP Content.

September 4, 2007

John Dvorak is so correct about how the syndicated news outlets and the newspapers who support them totally screwed up by virtually forcing Google to carry syndicated content on their site.

Here are some of John’s Lucid comments which to be honest are just so compelling and accurate it is difficult to understand why he was first to mention it all.

Here is an excerpt:

It's almost as if the whole episode was an elaborate trap that the newspapers fell into out of sheer stupidity. You'll notice that the more commercially oriented news services, such as Reuters, aren't involved in this deal, although Google may take its feed, too, "out of the goodness of its heart."

Watching the U.S. newspaper industry implode because of its inability to keep up with the times, combined with a complete lack of understanding of the Internet and its mechanisms, is something to behold.

As I witness this, I actually see it as a good thing that papers are failing. I say that because this exhibition of incompetence and stupidity tells me that, apparently, this group has no business informing me about anything. It's obvious that they can't get anything right in the first place. After all, computers and the Internet are nothing new.

I have to conclude that their "news product" is suspect and misinforms rather than informs. I mean, there is a Keystone Kops air of bumbling that cannot be ignored anymore. And you can tell that the public at large senses this, too.

I just wonder why newspapers and others would force Google to become a bigger competitor than they already are. It is mind-boggling really. Thank you John for pointing this situation out. Every newspaper company relying on syndicated content for news should see their shares drop 10% as a result of Google's stronger competitive news position in the online world.