Aol. is talking about becoming a content provider. It appears, on the surface, to be a sensible move. Indeed, as ISPs consolidate and Internet access becomes yet another of those services that have become devalued, entering the ‘freeconomy’ content inevitably becomes the first choice to attract consumers and, with them, the advertising dollar.
Yet the move has parallels with the opening of shopping centres up and down the country (and across the world). Seem strange? Bear with me.
As shopping districts turned into shopping arcades and malls (and now just supermarkets) we’ve seen consolidation of the kinds of shops available. Choice, it seems, is everywhere. Or so we are told. Yet as companies buy out chains of stores all we have is the choice of which store to enter. The contents of those stores is becoming increasingly similar. Just as we were told that we are all, more or less, one of only five or so different sizes, so too are we finding that really, a shirt is a shirt.
Choice disappears.
The debate is on regarding whether Yahoo! and Microsoft will form a credible alternative to Google. For me, there is no choice. It’s become a habit to type www.google.co.uk into my browser or use the built in search window. It’s not a matter of choice. It’s not a thing I even think about. It’s a matter of habit.
Choice disappears. All I want to do is find a webpage. Easily and quickly.
For information on a subject I will probably end up at one of the top searches and will find what I need there. I may look harder but it’s just a matter of working down the list.
For a shop, the same process unfolds.
Choice disappears.
And so to Aol. What content will they provide? Will it feed its content to other sites or is it really only talking about becoming a content portal, consolidating other people’s content?
Because that content is becoming subject to the whims of consolidation. Our choice of news seems to be getting narrower, our choice of opinions becoming polarised between Left and Right.
If it is to succeed, if Yahoo and Microsoft are to succeed, then they need to provide something radical. They need to think in terms of a paradigm shift of their respective business models.
