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CHART OF THE DAY: Apple Dominates In Consumer Cloud Services (AAPL, GOOG, AMZN)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-cloud-services-usage-2013-3
Here’s something that surprised us. Apple dominates in U.S. cloud service usage with iCloud.
According to Strategy Analytics, via Engadget, more people say they use iCloud than any other cloud service. This is most likely due to Apple pushing iCloud as a part of iOS.
Still, given all the hype around Dropbox and Google Drive, we thought they would be more popular. Strategy Analytics says awareness of cloud storage is still pretty low overall.
Music is the primary thing people are using with cloud storage services.
Quora Just Launched A Major Salvo At Google With Its Plan To Become The Internet’s ‘Library Of Alexandria’ (GOOG)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/quora-internet-library-of-alexandria-2012-12
Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo is nothing if not ambitious.
He just announced plans to dramatically expand the site’s goals beyond just asking and answering questions, declaring in a blog post that he hoped to build “an Internet-scale Library of Alexandria.”
That’s an implicit challenge to Google, which has long declared its mission to be “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
But D’Angelo noted in his post that the
Amazon Launches An Ad Exchange To Rival Facebook And Google (FB, GOOG, AMZN)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-launches-an-ad-exchange-to-rival-facebook-and-google-2012-12
Amazon has created a real-time bidding ad exchange, according to Adweek, putting it in a head-to-head battle with Facebook and Google for so called retargeting dollars.
Here’s how it will work: If you’re browsing on Amazon but decide not to buy that DVD of “Star Wars,” Amazon will drop a tracking cookie on your browser. When you go elsewhere in Amazon’s exchange network — which includes Amazon, IMDb, DPReview, and various ad exchanges and publishers that Amazon has a relationship with — you might see an ad pop up offering you another chance to buy “Star Wars.”
It’s pretty much exactly what Facebook has done with its FBX RTB exchange. Some analysts believe that Facebook may be able to generate $1 billion a year from FBX.
The advantage Amazon will have, however, is that it can use its vast trove of shopping data to target users with ads based on their purchase histories. Neither Facebook nor Google (which also does RTB retargeting via DoubleClick) can do that. Adweek says:
The self-serve RTB platform would hypothetically function similarly to Facebook’s Ads Manager in terms of how buyers could target their ads. Sources said Amazon is extremely protective of its data and wary of providing outside access, so like Facebook, Amazon’s platform would enable buyers to create targeting segments such as “men; aged 25-34; in Califo! rnia; in terested in high-definition TVs; who have purchased how-to books and home improvement tools.” But Amazon is not about to hand over its customer’s names or individual buying histories.
The three giants — Amazon, Facebook and Google — now face off in RTB like this:
Amazon: Owns the best database of actual shopping history and purchases. This type of data is like gold for advertisers. Clients have long awaited the day when “the sleeping giant,” as it is known in the ad biz, finally wakes up to advertisers. That day has dawned, it seems.
Facebook: Owns the best database of personal information about consumers. 1 billion users strong, with all their interests and friends, it’s terrifically useful stuff for marketers.
Google: Has traditionally dominated the “purchase intent” sector of the category. When people search for “Star Wars DVD” online, that’s a pretty good indicator they want to buy said movie. Google has been serving ads (and retargeting ads) against such requests for years. But its data on shoppers and their histories has never been as good as Amazon’s or Facebook’s.
Disclosure: The author owns Facebook and Google stock.
SEE ALSO: ANALYST: Facebook Is Generating $1 Billion A Year From Its Ad Exchange
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The Reason Larry Page Doesn’t Want Googlers Thinking About The Competition Is Pretty Inspiring (GOOG)
During an interview with Fortune’s Miguel Helft, Google CEO Larry Page is transparently reluctant to talk about who he thinks is Google’s competition.
Helft asks him: “Is it Siri? Is it Amazon or commercial queries?”
Page tries to dodge the question, saying: “I don’t really think about it that way.”
Helf presses: “Because you don’t think about competition?”
And then Page drops this doozy, which is pretty inspirational for people in the tech industry:
“Obviously we think about competition to some extent.”
“But I feel my job is mostly getting people not to think about our competition. In general I think there’s a tendency for people to think about the things that exist. Our job is to think of the thing you haven’t thought of yet that you really need. And by definition, if our competitors knew that thing, they wouldn’t tell it to us or anybody else. I think just our strengths, our weaknesses, our opportunities are different than any other company.”
(Of course the truth is that lots of Googlers do think about the competition, and when they do, it’s mostly about Amazon lately. The reason: Google makes its money from commercial web searches, and increasingly people are just going straight to Amazon.com for that.)
SEE ALSO: 12 Quotes That Reveal How Larry Page Built Google Into The World’s Most Important Internet Company
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Groupon Soars Thanks To A Rumor Google Might Buy It (GRPN, GOOG)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/groupon-stock-2012-12
Groupon’s stock was up 23% today.
Bloomberg is reporting there’s speculation that Google might take over Groupon.
Two years ago, Google wanted to buy Groupon for $6 billion, but was rejected. Today, the company is worth $3 billion. While growth has slowed, its core business is bigger. Google might think that it could buy Groupon, shutter the underperforming businesses and fix the flaws.
Or, this could just be chatter. Bloomberg doesn’t really source where the speculation is coming from.
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How Google Ruined Its First True Social Network (GOOG, FB)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-google-ruined-google-reader-2012-12
Before Google launched Google+ last year, Google Reader served as the company’s true social network.
While Google Reader never grew to hundreds of millions of users, a niche group of people found the service to be a great tool to consume and share content.
“Google had fostered a social network and earned die-hard fans in the most valuable way possible — without trying,” Rob Fishman of BuzzFeed writes.
Users could easily add friends, subscribe to another person’s feed of shared items, and even comment on those items.
Google Reader even helped online friends become real-life friends. As Fishman notes, one user actually became roommates with two people he met using Google Reader.
But Google eventually decided that it needed to reshape the company by challenging Facebook.
When Google launched Google+, it heavily integrated the social network into Reader. As a result of the changes, Google Reader lost its internal social features like friending, following, and sharing. Google forced users to share strictly through Google+.
“When we heard it was going away, it was like the end of the world,” Ramey Moore, a Reader user who met his wife using the service, told Fishman. “It’s like your favorite bar and your favorite restaurant and your favorite newspaper all closing on the same day.”
SEE ALSO: The Google+ Boss Just Brilliantly Deconstruct! ed Every thing Annoying About Facebook
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It’s An Attack On Microsoft’s Last Line Of Defense (GOOG)
Google announced yesterday that it is going to start charging all businesses that want to use Google Apps – Google’s online version of Microsoft Windows.
Previously, Google Apps had been free to use for businesses smaller than 10 people.
This news might mean that Google is sick of flushing money down rat hole and finally wants to cover its cost, despite the reduction in usage this will cause.
But it also might mean Google is about to take Apps development a whole lot more seriously. It might Google is going to start trying to make Google Apps something that all businessess find worth paying for.
If that’s the case, it has to make Microsoft nervous.
Microsoft is in a very precarious place at the moment.
It’s just released a new operating system that’s very different from its old one.
The new operating system forces enterprises and consumers around into a choice: what kind of new OS do they adopt?
In years past, there was really only one choice: Microsoft.
But now, consumers are bringing their iOS devices and Android devices to work. They’re used to them. They love them. Meanwhile, consumers are not rushing out to buy Microsoft’s new tablet, Surface.
So now, enterprises have three choices: Microsoft, Google, or Apple.
The big advantage! Microso ft has had for years now is that its software suite for doing business, Microsoft Office, is far superior to anything Google or Apple had to offer.
But if Google is going to charge all clients for its Office clone, that might mean it is about to take Apps development a whole lot more seriously.
Maybe Google will finally build a real rival to Microsoft office’s crown jewel, Excel.
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Microsoft’s Anti-Android Twitter Campaign Blew Up In Its Face (MSFT, GOOG)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-anti-android-twitter-campaign-blew-up-in-its-face-2012-12
Microsoft’s official Windows Phone Twitter account began a hashtag campaign yesterday asking people to use #droidrage to complain about malware on Android devices.
(It’s often a complaint that Android devices are more susceptible to malware than other phones. However, Google has done a good job at cracking down on malicious apps in its Google Play app store, so it hasn’t really been a problem for most people lately.)
As one would expect, the campaign is blowing up in Microsoft’s face.
Android fans used the hashtag to blast Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8 operating system. We searched the hashtag and picked out a few good ones. Thanks to DroidLife for picking up on this.
Now check out our review of HTC’s Windows Phone 8x >
Enjoy:
Whoops. Just activated another million devices today. Sorry bout that, @windowsphone. #DroidRage
— Android Central (@androidcentral) December 5, 2012
My wireless mouse wasn’t compatible with Win8 so I downloaded an app on my Nexus phone to act as a mouse for my PC #DroidRage
— Mayur (@mayur24) December 5, 2012 < blockquote>
You are as vulnerable to malware on Android as you are on a desktop computer. Be smart. Think then press. #droidrage
— Jeanie Lam (@jeanielam) December 5, 2012
I hate how everyones windows phone looks the same and everyones android looks customized and personal! #DroidRage
— James Anthony (@_JamesAnthony) December 5, 2012
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Google Lowers Prices To Try And Kill Amazon’s Cloud (GOOG, AMZN)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-lowers-prices-to-compete-with-aws-2012-11
Remember Compute Engine, Google’s Amazon-killer cloud that launched in a “limited preview” this June?
So far it hasn’t exactly knocked Amazon from its pedestal.
So Google’s trying an age-old tactic: lowering prices.
At the time it was announced, Google said it would be faster and cheaper than Amazon’s cloud, offering “50% more power per dollar” – which translated to being 37% cheaper.
But that apparently wasn’t cheap enough, because Google just dropped prices another 5%, Shailesh Rao, director of new products and solutions in the Google Enterprise unit, told InformationWeek.
It also added a bunch of new configuration options to make it more in line with all the things Amazon offers.
Rao says that Compute Engine wants to bring more startups onto its cloud. Startups are what propelled Amazon’s cloud services to become the most popular. One reason why startups are wary is because Compute Engine is still in “limited preview.” That’s a fancy way of saying that its still in beta mode.
Google hasn’t committed to a timeline when it’s cloud will leave beta and become a full-fledged service, Rao says.
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All The Kids Want iPads, Almost None Want The Surface (AAPL, MSFT, GOOG, AMZN)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/nielsen-study-what-people-want-2012-11
Apple is going to dominate holiday shopping in the U.S., once again, according to the latest data from Nielsen.
The first table below shows what kids 6-12 are interested in “buying” in the next 6-12 months. (By “buying” we assume Nielsen means, “getting,” unless these are some industrial kids who are running killer lemonade stands.) The second table shows what consumers 13 and over want.
As you can see, the iPad is the number one product people want in the next year. That’s got to be scaring the heck out of Microsoft. Because if you’re 6-12, and your first computer is an iPad, what are the odds you buy a Windows computer down the road?
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Digital Consigliere
Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.
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