Google should buy IMDB.com

2011-07-10T03:53:00.000-07:00

Google is attempting to provide a holistic approach to our needs with Gmail, Android, Chrome, Chrome OS, Google News, Google Search, Google+, Youtube, Google Music, Blogger, Picasa (soon to be rebranded as Google Photos), etc.

There may be very problematic issues with maintaining such large scale and wide reaching operations, namely the issue of becoming too bloated and inefficient, which leads to small undetectable hemorrhages of cash flow. It's also easy to build an army of spiteful companies who will fight cheap to kill you off (Microsoft's recent extortion of Android manufacturers for example). But if we are going to give our graceful overlords Google the credence that they can maintain an empire then we can leave no stone unturned.

Recently Google has been pushing movie rentals via Youtube without stellar success. Google has a great opportunity to profit from this industry with tie-ins to Android, Chrome and Google+, but their approach will be an uphill climb. Youtube, the name says it all, it is a personal site. It is for cute videos and vloggers. Most of the videos here are akin to short TV shows, we can subscribe and watch as a supplement. However professionally produced movies and TV shows get lost in the overwhelming sea of information. Google needs a company with brand recognition for movie fans if it wants to succeed. IMDB is just that.

IMDB provides a Google Books like attempt at a full catalog of films. This could lead to a similar push for a complete catalog of film and TV which would preserve hundreds of thousands of films which are in jeopardy of being lost forever. Just as with Google Books, Google can being to incorporate public domain works into the database and tie that into a movie rental service where a free watch of Night of the Living dead or other public domain works could lead to a rental. IMDB could also afford to bolster GoogleTV as well.

While Amazon.com, a competitor with Google in many fields, acquired IMDB.com years back, they have yet to create money from it other than with Ad revenue. IMDB plus members may be adding to the pot, but I can't imagine a substantial amount of people are willing to pay the membership fees to make much of a profit. Since Amazon.com is looking to expand into many markets including the app marketplace business, music streaming and movie rentals (which they haven't used IMDB for), I could only imagine they would be agreeable to a nice fat check to finance their expansions.

Comparing Amazon's bookstore to Google Books's database (and ebookstore tie-in), it seems much more fitting for Google to own the thorough database than Amazon. It is also the best chance for preservation of films, since Google would be the best bet for a wide scale operation in the manner of Google Books' preservation and public domain offerings.

Politics of Technology

2011-07-10T03:33:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog is pretty self explanatory. I would like to deal with the bureaucracy within the tech industry as well as legal politics surrounding tech.

Rather than take a more objective journalistic approach I will be stating my opinions as well as reminding of some inconvenient truths when necessary.