BRAToSPHERE

Tag: google

  • Google Reader Killed, Long Live RSS

    Google is a wonderful company and no doubt it has changed the way we browse internet. This sometimes has led to contemplate, has it become too big for comfort? Are we gradually becoming over dependent on the Search company that eventually it would be able to completely control our lives.

    Think about it, everything that we do online has a google imprint on it. Right from the moment we start our computer ( load google OS on a google desktop) to browsing on Chrome, accessing email on Gmail, life completely revolves around google. These are the commonly used applications and I am not delving into google analytics, adwords, etc.

    Even the Mobile phone has google run android on it.

    Last week, Google has announced closure of its very loved Google Reader. All it took was 130 words on its blog to announce shutting down a system used by more than hundreds of millions. http://googlereader.blogspot.in/2013/03/powering-down-google-reader.html

    “About eight years back, Google launched Reader in 2005. By offering it to users for free, it undercut, and ultimately eliminated, all substantial competitors in the news-aggregation business” (Source : http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2013/03/end-google-reader) If all it had to do was to get people use it, love it, get addicted to it and then kill it, why make it in the first place?

    Of course there are other alternatives to it, and everyone who seriously used reader would gradually shift to it. But was it really necessary for google to shut it down?

    The ones using it would gradually shift to other networks, but what about the independent bloggers and other web journalists who have built a dedicated base of subscribers over many years. All of it would be gone in a whiff!

    Of course, Google is a “for profit” company and if a product does not make money the most sensible thing you do is to pull the plug. But seriously, how much resource was being used on this?

    All those who are signing petitions to Google  (and even one to The White House!) are missing the bigger point – this is a victim of the company’s DNA, one that’s accelerated under Larry Page’s management.

    With this move, Google has lost a lot of my trust and I would seriously consider getting used to a google product. If it is reader today, it could be email tomorrow. Why not?

    After a couple of years, when google realizes that a majority of us are addicted to gmail, it could simply threaten to pull the   plug or force the users to cough up money. By then most would be very used to the email address provided by Google and would be forced to pay up.

    Google has so much of my privacy data, it knows who are my contacts, what do I talk, what do I like and dislike, where all I go and many other things, that I am now really worried. Would I entrust it with all of this?

    Thank you Apple and Facebook for slowing down google’s intentions. Imagine what bigger force google would have become had it ruled over us in Social Media too!

    Google has 450,000 servers all over the earth, with no central nervous system. This is very similar to the skynet shown in the movie terminator. Is google the actual Skynet?

  • IIPM – and its wonderful suing saga

    Four years back, I was travelling across the country attending different interviews, and group discussion processes for various B-Schools, seeking an admission there.

    This also took me to Delhi, aspiring for a seat in DOMS, IIT-Delhi. After the interview, as is the habit, I set out walking around the city near the campus, and I bumped into the IIFT campus (one more dream place to join) and IIPM. Did it attract me? Absolutely. Long cars, hot chics, an auro of richness in and around the place, it just seemed like a page out of a Hindi movie college campus.

    No doubt, Arindam Chaudhuri  played very well on the middle class Indian sentiment of providing a “good” education to their children no matter what, and how much ever it costs. Whether affordable or not!

    I first heard about this “great campus on this planet” in their full page newspaper ads, across newspapers. INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT (IIPM) – Dare to think beyond the IIM’s glared the newspaper, with a pony tiled comic looking guy smiling with his shining white teeth flashing so very obviously.

    One more instance put IIPM into my mind – coming up with 4 magazines and in vernacular languages too. The cover pages of the magazines were no doubt attractive and provoking, and only after buying it does one understand that it is just all jazz with no real matter!

    Was it over? No! Rok Sako toh Rok Lo – the movie Arindam produced marking his entry into bollywood, very unconventional for an academic. Totally serves the purpose! Middle class Indian now treats him like a celebrity. Rok sako toh rok lo, he literally seemed to say.

    Nah! My man, Arindam is still not happy. The students are still not flocking in the numbers that he would have ideally wanted for his campuses across the country. So what if the promised swimming pool is present only at one campus? So what if all that is shown on the ads, are not really present? So what if the institute claims of having tie-ups with international institutes? Nobel laureates being passed as IIPM faculty, top rankings above the IIM’s, and many other marketing initiatives still seemed less for this “visionary”.

    He pulled the biggest coup of them all – SHAH RUKH KHAN, undoubtedly the biggest brand in the country, would endorse IIPM, and become a quiz master for the IIPM quiz competition. ( SRK’s association with the institute is now being questioned by the court)

    Now, why am I ranting about IIPM and its kartoot across the years today? This ridiculously funny piece of news, that IIPM has sued a magazine, a publisher and GOOGLE for Rs. 50 crores!

    Why? A cover story published by the Caravan magazine in February 2011 issue, titled ‘Sweet Smell of Success: How Arindam Chaudhuri Made a Fortune Off the Aspirations—and Insecurities—of India’s Middle Classes’, which has been excerpted from Siddhartha Deb’s upcoming book published by Penguin, has allegedly caused “grave harassment and injury’ to the brand IIPM.

    The funnier part,  besides the point that google was also being sued, is that the suit has been filed in Silchar, Assam! Why? No idea! IIPM is based out of Delhi, Caravan is based out delhi, and Delhi should have been the obvious choice!

    The IIPM filed the case at the Court of Civil Judge in Silchar district, through one Kishorendu Gupta( a commissioned agent of IIPM), who operates Gupta Electrical Engineers in a Silchar suburb, and is the first plaintiff. IIPM is the second plaintiff.

    This is not the first time Arindam Chaudhuri is up against the publishers. A good couple of years back, in 2005, the IIPM filed a case against Rashmi Bansal, a blogger and editor of Just Another Magazine (JAM), who published a similar article questioning many of the claims like accreditation, made by the IIPM in its brochures and advertisements. The IIPM filed a case against Bansal from Silchar, Assam, even though she runs a small independent outfit based in Mumbai. Even Gaurav Sabnis, A blogger, was implicated in this case.

    Again in 2009, Careers360 magazine, carried an article titled “IIPM – Best only in claims?” investigating the authenticity of many of the claims made by the IIPM in their advertisements. The IIPM, again, filed a case against the magazine and the publisher in Silchar, and obtained ex-parte restraint against them. The IIPM also filed a criminal case against Maheshwar Peri from Uttarakhand, which was subsequently quashed by the High Court.

    The cases against Rashmi Bansal and Careers360 are both still underway at the Silchar courts, as the IIPM seems to be interested in dragging the matter out now that their purpose has been served by obtaining interim restraints. Public memory is limited, and greed and gullibility – unlimited. Arindam is the perfect Marketing manager to capture this insight and use to his complete advantage.

    What purpose does it serve IIPM? The court in Silchar has ordered an “ex-parte injunction”, asking the magazine to take down the posts, similar to what it has done with JAM magazine six years back! Apparently, the legal system in India allows for this.

    Would Arindam win the case? In all probability no! but who needs to win anyways. He has got his way, the articles are down, and the case would be pending in that remote court for ever, as happens with court cases in india. Till then, Arindam would have minted much much money from the innocent gullible parents, to be able to fund his Bentleys and other pursuits.

    One observation in this whole issue – Why did Arindam have to wait till now to sue caravan and other, when the article was published in February itself? Oh! Admissions time, you don’t want bad publicity. Caravan magazine would be read by a handful of people, and you suing it would give the article a more wider reach ( like it has done now!). So, wait for the admissions to be done ,let all the money reach your safe, and then suing can keep happening. Silchar courts, am sure would not object to it ever!

    Only that this time, Arindam has probably undermined the effect of social media, and its reach. Getting an article off one magazine does not ensure that it is completely off the internet. Shutting the mouth of newspapers by dangling the full page ad wala carrot in front of them, will not shut normal junta from sharing it on twitter, and facebook and let everyone know about it.

    Link – The original article on Caravan magazine

    Now just hoping, blogger does not feel intimidated, and take it down. Else, there would be a hundred other places again where it would be reposted.

  • >FASTFORWARD – Marketing channel

    >In this ever-changing digital environment, it can often be tough for businesses and marketers to keep up and maintain relevance to consumers. To help this out, google has partnered with The Wharton School to launch Fast.Forward. This site is full of helpful content, including more than 100 videos from leading industry experts — like google CEO, Eric Schmidt — and academics like Jerry Wind, Lauder Professor at The Wharton School, AAAA CEO Nancy Hill, offering their perspectives on the changing world of marketing. If you wanna see some interesting notes about entrepreneur, marketing and success in business and are interested in the Entre Institute, you should try to go here for the reviews.

    it elaborates on how to build community and customer bases in the digital landscape, through extensive videos. The Channel shows communications professionals how they can evolve to cut through the noise and spam, and build loyal audiences with tech savvy people.

    Through short videos from some of the top industry minds the group hopes to challenge marketers to take risks and create better campaigns. For now, the site comes up short as the videos appear to answer questions in a very general manner with few specifics in terms of tactics and strategy. The most promising component of the site appears to be the “Free Tools” section with a list of resources including links to a website optimizer, search insights and 3rd party trends data from Facebook and Twitter. Right now, all of those links are dead.

    The first rule of marketing: test your product.

    As consumers become more and more technologically savvy, businesses and marketers have worked quickly to keep up. As a result, many companies are left questioning what they aren’t doing that they should be, or what they should do next to stay in front of the right people, in the right place, at the right time, in an increasingly digital world. In this context, the utilization of 10 HR management software can significantly enhance organizational efficiency and streamline HR processes.

    A similar initiative by the UK marketing team of google, survival of the fittest already exists in partnership with London Business School.

    More importantly, the videos also take a look at the implications of those changes for marketers and consumers. These experts tackle topics ranging from the importance of innovation and insights, to the new definition of speed. On the flipside, we also have videos from interviews with everyday folks, where we learn about the roles advertising and online content play in their daily lives.

    In addition to the library of videos, the brand channel offers a “barometer” gauging consumer confidence levels and links to free tools designed to help marketers understand the online world a little better, as well as information on the Future of Advertising. A Wharton-led, research-based project, the Future of Advertising aims to explore and address a number of the business and marketing challenges in the current “Advertising Reality”, while developing new models and empirical generalizations for advertising.

    the event section aims to cover major marketing meets and events, coming up with some interesting behind the scenes footage.

    So if you’re interested in hearing what others really think about “advertising”, if you want to check out what’s happening at Advertising Week, or if you have your own opinion that you’d like to voice, check it out.

  • >The GIANT – Google

    >lots has been said about google, so even if i say anythin..it would be plain repetition. If not plagiarism. Bhai log sach!!

    Now why am i( a happy go lucky nature.. ), who cares a damn of wht is goin on in out world, suddenly interested in google.

    The recent bid by MS to takeover google. led me thinking, how a small idea came out to be a $44bn company?.. Even Sabeer bhatia made a cool $400Mn jus by emailin the world.( HoTMaiL ppl)

    Aah!! where is tht small idea of mine??.. Beneath my bed probably. Will have to sleep to get it!! he he..

    Anyways, watch this funny pic.. of the predicted frontpage of google in the coming decades!!!