Google is again in discussion to buy Yelp. See this piece by Claire Cain Miller in today’s New York Times.
The GOOG can no longer position itself as a disinterested observer of information. Its ownership of blogging technology, its interest in reviews, and its increasing appetite for a broadened footprint in what we can call the Opinions Industry confirm that Google owns content like a regular Old Media media company. It’s not just an observer or lens business any more. The public imagination might still envision Google as a search engine or aggregator. But Google is an Owner, not
an Observer.
On the legal side, all of this helps explain why Google has been so adamant about forbidding any change to the CDA 230: if Google owns the stuff (which it does), its fear of liability must be accentuated.
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[...] week here at the Reputation.com Blog, Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik discussed Google’s rumored acquisition of Yelp. In the blog post, Michael declared that Google’s interest in Yelp showed the company was [...]
[...] week here at the Reputation.com Blog, Reputation.com CEO Michael Fertik discussed Google’s rumored acquisition of Yelp. In the blog post, Michael declared that Google’s interest in Yelp showed the company was [...]
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