In a New York Times article about how Google is adding inventory information from local merchants into Google Base, John Markoff (a writer who, until this very moment, I had a great deal of respect for) says:
Many publishers had become concerned about the potential of Google Base, which could allow the company to dominate the classified advertising business. Now, publishers of services like the Yellow Pages are facing a competitive threat from Google.
(emphasis added)
My God, John, have you even looked at Google Base? Is this what you have to do to get on Google’s short list of publications they ping before launch? Write whatever they tell you to? These statements are…unsupportable.
Later in the article John marches in Marshal Cohen from the NPD Group, someone else who’s apparently never looked at Google Base:
Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at NPD Group, a market research firm in Port Washington, N.Y., said that if Froogle delivered up-to the-minute inventory updates from retailers, “consumers will finally know whether a trip to a store is worthwhile.”
“The only thing missing from the online retailing equation is ‘Do they have what I want,’ ” Mr. Cohen said. “But putting inventory on the Web, by store location, means now all of a sudden I have that final piece of the puzzle.”
Yep, I guess they finally found that final piece of the puzzle to fix Froogle.
In my opinion, Froogle should have been taken out back and shot years ago. Has anyone ever used it to find or sell a product successfully?
I just love this quote from the middle of the article:
The limitation of the service, Google acknowledged, is that the inventory information might not be precise or necessarily up to date.
I’m sure nobody will mind.
