Few industries have benefited more from technological advances than the music industry. What, you say, nothing could be further from the truth! The music industry is reeling – CDs sales are dropping 20% per year and record chains are closing by the thousands – mostly thanks to consumers who continue to use the Internet (technology) to download music for free, despite the industry’s best legal efforts to stop them. Well, yes, this is all true, but to understand the relationship between technology and the music industry, you have … Continue reading →

I cruised the exhibit hall this afternoon. After some good conversations with SEMers, VCs, and former colleagues, here are some of the more interesting snippets from the day: 1. “We paid for our booth in the first two hours” – A paid search bid management company.2. “Most people who come up to us are asking ‘what do you do’.” – one of the top three Web analytics companies.3. “We were outnumbered by Google employees 5 to 1″ – An attendee at the Google party.4. “MSN AdCenter is the … Continue reading →

Lots of people have been asking for my opinion on this one, so what better topic to (hopefully) get back into the rhythm of regular blogging. Without further ado, six thoughts about this acquisition. 1. If MSN had paid $3B for DoubleClick . . . people would have laughed. But because Google bought them, this is a brilliant acquisition. 2. The “A” Word. I’m amazed that only now are competitors starting to band about the “anti-trust” word when it comes to Google. As has been oft-discussed in this … Continue reading →