Tim Howell’s Weblog

Archive for May, 2006

Google Maps of New Zealand

May 31st, 2006 | Category: Technology, Search

Some forms of data are finally becoming a commodity, although it sometimes takes a while for the data to be made available in New Zealand. Now Google has made available street level maps of New Zealand which is useful for a couple of reasons: it further commoditises this form of data in this country, and the supporting APIs – and mashup hype overseas – now become applicable for New Zealand.

Zoomin, a Wellington-based mapping startup which has a local lead in this area, has responded in the only way they could, by saying this is a positive move for the industry. For the moment the Zoomin community is a differentiator, however it will really need to build on this, and form additional partnerships, to maintain its momentum. Things may even get more competitive within the next 12 months as it’s likely MSN will also compete in this area locally.

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Is eBay + Yahoo! > Google? Wait and see

May 27th, 2006 | Category: Uncategorized
No sooner had JPMorgan reported that it was likely two of the “big four” of Google, eBay, Yahoo! and MSN would get together, than eBay and Yahoo! announce an alliance.
 
In short, Yahoo! will provide advertising on eBay, and eBay will provide PayPal payment services to Yahoo! This is just a start, as the 56 page noted:
 
“In our view, a partnership or merger between eBay and Yahoo! is the most strategically feasible. A combined company would have the leading position in auctions, communications, payments, graphical advertising, audience reach, and geographic breadth.”
 
It will be interesting to see what happens next. Reports suggested MSN was courting Yahoo! and wanting to invest in its search business, but this advance was rebuffed.
 
Developments like these are interesting to watch for a number of reasons, not least of which are the high stakes involved. As these technology companies position themselves as media companies, then the potential to transform how we read, view and digest information – and in particular, advertising – will inevitably change.
 
If you’re interested in these dynamics, download the report (Update: File has been removed) – despite a few inconsistencies, it’s a useful overview of the potential alliances that could be coming, the breadth of services of each player and their overall strengths and weaknesses.
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Back again… again

May 27th, 2006 | Category: Uncategorized

As a few people have commented, it’s been a while. I considered giving this up - have I really done enough to say I’m giving it up? - but there isn’t anyone out there saying what I want to say.

At the very least it gives me an excuse to analyze what’s happening out there, and I want to do that anyway, and who knows – others may be interested.

So here goes another attempt to put thoughts into words and see what happens.

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