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Right now this studio seems to be a set of tutorials, a PDF annotation/search tool, and the common knowledge project. Seems innocuous but Google is just about t

Right now this studio seems to be a set of tutorials, a PDF annotation/search tool, and the common knowledge project. Seems innocuous but Google is just about the last company I trust to be involved in the journalism industry - not just because of their internal political biases but also because I simply don’t trust that big aggregator tech platforms care about making journalism thrive. I expect instead to see the industry squeezed further. Getting in bed with them isn’t a wise strategy for long term sustainable operation.

xhkkffbf 6y ago
I have to agree. Much of the trouble in the industry is because Google embraced the idea that writers and artists were people to be fleeced by selling advertisements without sharing anything. The approach in the Google books project was especially egregious. They just went ahead and made free copies of someone's hard work all without permission. The engineers got rich. The lawyers threw up endless pettifoggery and the writers got nada. The Google News project was another example. While Marissa Mayer was telling shareholders that the project was worth $100m to the corporation, the journalists who were putting their butts on the line were getting nothing. Google just kept the revenue. What is also shameful is the way the company has funded, often secretly, non-profits and academics that undermine the intellectual property rights of hard working creators while celebrating the pirates who contribute nothing. Journalists should have nothing to do with these leeches.
- ksk 6y ago
  Google's core mission of simply indexing information was never going to be a money maker. Now, the only way Google makes money, is when other companies/users produce something of value. Google finds what that is, and inserts themselves between the user, and the content that the user wants to get to. They setup their little toll-booth on the internet, and start collecting. It is primarily a parasitic company at this point.

xhkkffbf 6y ago

I have to agree. Much of the trouble in the industry is because Google embraced the idea that writers and artists were people to be fleeced by selling advertisements without sharing anything. The approach in the Google books project was especially egregious. They just went ahead and made free copies of someone's hard work all without permission. The engineers got rich. The lawyers threw up endless pettifoggery and the writers got nada. The Google News project was another example. While Marissa Mayer was telling shareholders that the project was worth $100m to the corporation, the journalists who were putting their butts on the line were getting nothing. Google just kept the revenue. What is also shameful is the way the company has funded, often secretly, non-profits and academics that undermine the intellectual property rights of hard working creators while celebrating the pirates who contribute nothing. Journalists should have nothing to do with these leeches.

ksk 6y ago
Google's core mission of simply indexing information was never going to be a money maker. Now, the only way Google makes money, is when other companies/users produce something of value. Google finds what that is, and inserts themselves between the user, and the content that the user wants to get to. They setup their little toll-booth on the internet, and start collecting. It is primarily a parasitic company at this point.