A while back, I wrote that display advertising is too complicated. Today Google announced their entry into the display ad exchange business. Both in their announcement and in this conversation with Neal Mohan from Google, the idea of bringing simplicity to the market is cited as a major driving force. Google also describes the system as if it were the first display ad exchange ever. Of course the reality is a bit different, with Yahoo/Right Media and others having offered exchange capabilitie...

A while back, I wrote that display advertising is too complicated. Today Google announced their entry into the display ad exchange business. Both in their announcement and in this conversation with Neal Mohan from Google, the idea of bringing simplicity to the market is cited as a major driving force. Google also describes the system as if it were the first display ad exchange ever. Of course the reality is a bit different, with Yahoo/Right Media and others having offered exchange capabilitie...

Yesterday I went to T-Mobile to get a new Blackberry 8900 for Susan, who wanted to switch back from the iPhone. There were a bunch of things she did not like about the iPhone. She never got used to typing on the glass keyboard and wanted to have a real keyboard again. She also was super unhappy when we were in Europe this summer that I was using my Blackberry with abandon due to T-Mobile’s excellent international email roaming, while she was afraid of even touching her iPhone due to all the h...

Yesterday I went to T-Mobile to get a new Blackberry 8900 for Susan, who wanted to switch back from the iPhone. There were a bunch of things she did not like about the iPhone. She never got used to typing on the glass keyboard and wanted to have a real keyboard again. She also was super unhappy when we were in Europe this summer that I was using my Blackberry with abandon due to T-Mobile’s excellent international email roaming, while she was afraid of even touching her iPhone due to all the h...

The post on the USV blog about the challenge of creating native mobile apps (meaning ones that can on exist on the mobile platform) has created a lively discussion with by now over 60 comments. A good chunk of that discussion was about the relative merits of just sticking with the mobile browser versus developing apps. For instance, Fred observes:I’m a big fan of the mobile browser too but it does seem like the prevailing delivery package today is the mobile app, not the browser.That and a co...

The post on the USV blog about the challenge of creating native mobile apps (meaning ones that can on exist on the mobile platform) has created a lively discussion with by now over 60 comments. A good chunk of that discussion was about the relative merits of just sticking with the mobile browser versus developing apps. For instance, Fred observes:I’m a big fan of the mobile browser too but it does seem like the prevailing delivery package today is the mobile app, not the browser.That and a co...

The top link on techmeme right now is yesterday’s post by Jason Calacanis titled “Yahoo committed seppukku today." It is worth reading because it powerfully (and hilariously) lays out the position that handing over search to Microsoft is a huge mistake for Yahoo. It is a position I am very familiar with, because I made much of the same argument (although in a less entertaining fashion) last May. But it is more than a year later and I am not sure the logic still applies. First, Yahoo has lost ...

The top link on techmeme right now is yesterday’s post by Jason Calacanis titled “Yahoo committed seppukku today." It is worth reading because it powerfully (and hilariously) lays out the position that handing over search to Microsoft is a huge mistake for Yahoo. It is a position I am very familiar with, because I made much of the same argument (although in a less entertaining fashion) last May. But it is more than a year later and I am not sure the logic still applies. First, Yahoo has lost ...

Much of the discussion of the real-time web has focused on content generated by humans, such as tweets. But the bigger growth over the next decade is likely to come from m2m interactions. One big source of data will be smart meters. For instance, the UK government recently unveiled a plan to equip every home with a smart meter by 2020. The real-time electricity usage data from these meters can be used for better management of consumption by individuals, companies and utilities. In addition to...

Much of the discussion of the real-time web has focused on content generated by humans, such as tweets. But the bigger growth over the next decade is likely to come from m2m interactions. One big source of data will be smart meters. For instance, the UK government recently unveiled a plan to equip every home with a smart meter by 2020. The real-time electricity usage data from these meters can be used for better management of consumption by individuals, companies and utilities. In addition to...

Fred posted on the weekend about giving Bing a chance. I am doing the same this week having set Bing as the default search engine in Firefox. My main reason is that I firmly believe in the need for search diversity. A search mono-culture would be bad for the Internet for several reasons:Too much power. Search is so central to the web experience that it provides a lot of power. That power should not be concentrated in a single player with a very high market share. I am not suggesting that Goog...

Fred posted on the weekend about giving Bing a chance. I am doing the same this week having set Bing as the default search engine in Firefox. My main reason is that I firmly believe in the need for search diversity. A search mono-culture would be bad for the Internet for several reasons:Too much power. Search is so central to the web experience that it provides a lot of power. That power should not be concentrated in a single player with a very high market share. I am not suggesting that Goog...

It is an interesting juxtaposition to have GM file for bankruptcy the same day that Microsoft launches its new search engine bing. It would be difficult to find a clearer illustration of how the shift from atoms to bits is transforming industries. It is not just the recession that is causing a smaller demand for cars – the demand will never be the same. Using the net, we can share cars more efficiently. Video conferencing reduces the need to drive for business. And streaming video (search for...

It is an interesting juxtaposition to have GM file for bankruptcy the same day that Microsoft launches its new search engine bing. It would be difficult to find a clearer illustration of how the shift from atoms to bits is transforming industries. It is not just the recession that is causing a smaller demand for cars – the demand will never be the same. Using the net, we can share cars more efficiently. Video conferencing reduces the need to drive for business. And streaming video (search for...

On Friday evening the much anticipated WolframAlpha launched publicly. It is great fun to play around with, not only because it has some hilarious easter eggs, but because there is a renewed sense of exploration. At least I found myself coming up with ever new queries to see what it knows (computes) and what it doesn’t. For instance, here are two queries that show off the range of WolframAlpha:how old is Barack Obama? area under x^2 between 2 and 4?One thing is for sure – a lot of homework wi...

On Friday evening the much anticipated WolframAlpha launched publicly. It is great fun to play around with, not only because it has some hilarious easter eggs, but because there is a renewed sense of exploration. At least I found myself coming up with ever new queries to see what it knows (computes) and what it doesn’t. For instance, here are two queries that show off the range of WolframAlpha:how old is Barack Obama? area under x^2 between 2 and 4?One thing is for sure – a lot of homework wi...

The frontpage of Techmeme is simply stunning at the moment. So many important things happening:Google announcing an attempt to completely remake communication and joint document prodcution with Wave. See “Went Walkabout. Brought back Google Wave” on the Google blog. Microsoft is trying to get back into the search game with Bing. It definitely looks like an attempt at a differentiated offering as can be seen in the video promoting it (although launching via a video seems a bit lame). Hulu, whi...

The frontpage of Techmeme is simply stunning at the moment. So many important things happening:Google announcing an attempt to completely remake communication and joint document prodcution with Wave. See “Went Walkabout. Brought back Google Wave” on the Google blog. Microsoft is trying to get back into the search game with Bing. It definitely looks like an attempt at a differentiated offering as can be seen in the video promoting it (although launching via a video seems a bit lame). Hulu, whi...

I have been trying out Bing last week, as has Fred, and the team at Clickable (and probably a lot of other folks). Generally, the verdict seems to be that it’s not terrible but has some obvious shortcomings, especially when it comes to integrating blog and very recent content. Despite these shortcomings, I do believe that Bing represents a real challenge for Google because of its design. This is not just a question of Bing adding some “bling” (could not resist) in the form of a picture on the...

I have been trying out Bing last week, as has Fred, and the team at Clickable (and probably a lot of other folks). Generally, the verdict seems to be that it’s not terrible but has some obvious shortcomings, especially when it comes to integrating blog and very recent content. Despite these shortcomings, I do believe that Bing represents a real challenge for Google because of its design. This is not just a question of Bing adding some “bling” (could not resist) in the form of a picture on the...