Thursday, November 2, 2006

Google's plan to destroy transparency

In 2006, Google introduced (with virtually no notice) a scheme designed to boost the income of traditional media companies, who had been slow to develop their search propositions.  In doing so, they allowed thousands of advertisers to be ripped off by their agencies, and embedded a system that built in a disadvantage for the small specialist agencies who had helped Google to its success.  The scheme was quietly abandoned two years later.  If nothing else it demonstrates that even the smartest people get it wrong sometimes.  (First published November 2006)