The Financial Times has named Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin as Men of the Year (apparently beating out Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko). I guess it's difficult to argue with the choice(s) given Google's growing presence and popularity but did Google really have more of an impact this year than 2004? Sure, Google's stock soared, its financial results continued to blow away Wall St., it rolled out several new cool services, and it capped off the year by spending $1-billion for 5% of AOL. It sounds like it was busy but was it a Men of the Year year? I would boldly suggest the Man of the Year - at least in the online world - was Rupert Murdoch, who took News Corp. from zero to sixty on the Web with a series of bold strategic acquisitions. After sitting on the online sidelines, Murdoch decided News Corp. needed to get into the game so his M&A people went out and bought IGN Entertainment, which owns AskMen.com, TeamXbox, Rotten Tomatoes and GameSpy, for $650-million. They also purchased Intermix, which owns the wildy-popular MySpace.com, for $580-million, and Scout.com for $60-million. These deals made News Corp. a major online player in a matter of months - putting the company firmly in the middle of the Web's advertising tsunami. You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks but you can sure try if he has enough money...and Rupert Murdoch seems intent on making sure he doesn't miss out on the the Web's next growth spurt.
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Mark Evansthe blog - examines the world of telecom and technology from a distinctly Canadian perspective.the person - lives in Toronto, CA with his wife and three children, and works as director of community with PlanetEye Inc. 
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FT Names Brin, Page Men of the Year
by
Mark Evans
on Thu 29 Dec 2005 08:02 AM EST | Permanent Link
The Financial Times has named Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin as Men of the Year (apparently beating out Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko). I guess it's difficult to argue with the choice(s) given Google's growing presence and popularity but did Google really have more of an impact this year than 2004? Sure, Google's stock soared, its financial results continued to blow away Wall St., it rolled out several new cool services, and it capped off the year by spending $1-billion for 5% of AOL. It sounds like it was busy but was it a Men of the Year year? I would boldly suggest the Man of the Year - at least in the online world - was Rupert Murdoch, who took News Corp. from zero to sixty on the Web with a series of bold strategic acquisitions. After sitting on the online sidelines, Murdoch decided News Corp. needed to get into the game so his M&A people went out and bought IGN Entertainment, which owns AskMen.com, TeamXbox, Rotten Tomatoes and GameSpy, for $650-million. They also purchased Intermix, which owns the wildy-popular MySpace.com, for $580-million, and Scout.com for $60-million. These deals made News Corp. a major online player in a matter of months - putting the company firmly in the middle of the Web's advertising tsunami. You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks but you can sure try if he has enough money...and Rupert Murdoch seems intent on making sure he doesn't miss out on the the Web's next growth spurt.
Comments
Re: FT Names Brin, Page Men of the Year
by
Anonymous
on Thu 29 Dec 2005 12:51 PM EST | Permanent Link
What's neat about NWS/Murdoch is that it shows what actually getting off your butt can do. Here's a guy with, arguably, the best conglomeration of media assets on the planet. With the odd exception of Canada, it is almost impossible to turn on a TV without seeing content NWS substantially owns (Fox, SKY, Star and Foxtel) or distributes (DirecTV, BskyB, Foxtel etc.). Not to mention the credible print presence (Times of London, anyone?), movie studios, stakes in the Rangers and the Lakers etc. Dude's a player.
So, hmm, this 'net thing seems to be taking off, and with it billions of traditional ad dollars, too. What's a poor mogul to do? Well, first, apparently, wait. He did next-to squat for years. But now that the dollar flow is real and marketers are looking for the web to do more heavy lifting, NWS says "uncle" and just bloody goes for it. Giddy up. A few bills later and blammo, you are in the game. And you know what? I think a) they have just gotten going and b) the combination of assets at their disposal and a new desire to create a home for some of that shifting ad money will result in some pretty cool stuff over the next 24 months. NWS has the potential to be what IACI would have been if Diller had stayed in pure media and not gone into eComm. - Stuart Re: Re: FT Names Brin, Page Men of the Year
by
Mark Evans
on Thu 29 Dec 2005 02:28 PM EST | Profile | Permanent Link
murdoch may have found himself in the right place at the right time. he's got the content and now the online properties to pull in advertising.
Re: Re: Re: FT Names Brin, Page Men of the Year
by
Stuart MacDonald
on Thu 29 Dec 2005 10:21 PM EST | Profile | Permanent Link
And what's really interesting with NWS is how well placed they are making themselves to soak up shifting ad dollars, and not just online. Remember, the shift of marketing dollars is *away* from traditional media, not solely *to* the web. For instance, that lady serving tasty samples in the grocery store? NWS. And those ads on the grocery carts? Yup, that's NWS too. They might be playing catch-up online, but big-picture these guys are really covering the go-where-the-money-is-going bases.
- Stuart Trackbacks
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