Google's announcement of a proposed system for micro payments towards content on line is an important step for what I call the (industrial) (r)Evolution of Media..on a few levels.
If a social trend is important it most certainly can be viewed from a variety of angles and distances.
So this announcement by Google may well be viewed by a tradesman (near layoff) at the NYT as way too little, way too late but, I suggest it is huge....maybe bigger than that when looked at from the right perspective.
The US (and the world to some extent) are dealing with the inevitable aftermath of a century of managed markets that changed or funneled demand for content. The 20th century produced a market for media content in the US that was the creature of government barrier to entry (and capital costs in the case of newspapers) and as such, the limited nature of supply distorted values in a variety of ways to both producers and consumers. Eventually in such a system you lose your perspective much like animals in the zoo lose much of their wildness. It is inevitable. The present bewilderment in the media industry is really just a long slow opportunity for us all to catch our collective breath before all media consumption becomes a perfectly personalized experience that is woven into our daily social and work experience. Right now, supply of potential sources of content has increased exponentially. Micro payments will help level a diverse playing field but until everyone acknowledges there is no going back, then we can begin to move forward with incremental innovation that will be meaningful. Right now, what stands out a lot to me is how so many behind the new media curve spend so much energy blaming Google for being good at what they do.Google, Yahoo, and Ask are tools designed to serve Choice for consumers. Spending time blaming search companies for giving people what they want is like GM telling us it is un-American to buy a foreign car assembled in Ohio for less money. Competition makes everyone better. Even the President noted that last night.
Google's proposed micro payments are an important step in a positive direction as they will blend two important social themes of great importance together.
Readers of both my blogs know that the Root Trend focuses very broadly on social trending circumstances related in some way to social mood and generational dynamics that are important right now. This blog, I call it iroM, is about media and where and why we are taking our media tools now that the market (for content) has been freed up with competition that is changing everything back to what the consumer actually wants and needs as opposed to what the oligopolists can and will deliver on their own time. This may sound negative but the result of limited competition is limiting of Choice. This is a universal truth even the President tried to address last night in his speech on health care.
In the short and medium term....the next few years, better metrics for measuring consumer engagement with all kinds of content will change us and the businesses that serve us. This is true of social networking tools in the digital environment and it is true about how we keep in touch with our friends.
In the next decade, or two, how we value things of all kinds will shift a lot in a back and forth kind of motion that when out of focus will feel discomforting. There's no doubt that this period of our shared history will be wrenching for reasons well beyond media tools. Still, media is a higher order social tool(s) and it is important enough that we protected freedom there in our founding agreement. So, if you take something we all consider to be essential, add a more perfect freedom dynamic to the market than we were used to, and values of everything will be seen to fluctuate until the tools actually sort out how to serve the market.
Over on my other site, The Root Trend, I recently wrote about How do we define Free these days? Even if it only sideswipes Chris Anderson's recent forecast, that does not mean it was less than important. Yes, my point is subtle but its a concept any business service provider cares about these days. What Free means to you and I is essential to marketing content and services to us in the years ahead. This discussion about how we each define Free these days is also the same discussion as Better Metrics was on this site from two different perspectives. That connection is important and also instructive on a few levels.The idea of needing better metrics may be shorter term but is no less important because it will help define what and where value is for consumers in the digital environment.
Here's just one of many Other ways to use this:
Yesterday I received a viral video link for the third time in a month from friends that work either as a consultant or at a company that is a vendor to other companies. The video begins with a guy and woman in a restaurant telling the waiter they'd like him to cut their their bill because they did not budget for it. Chances are you've seen this video that makes fun of how many companies now feel it is ok to negotiate price without actually negotiating and instead simply asking for concessions. It points to the obvious on an individual case level but it is helpful to see this from a macro perspective first. How we value things is changing and as social mood changes, how we value things changes...things of all kinds. Now the idea of social mood is not about the value of a company's service. No, not at all. But as our shared values as a nation changes, we tend to see and create all kinds of things differently simply because of how we view the uncertain future with pessimism. This group process, I like to call a social correction is a macro social trend. This is a big one. Think of it as the social weather. The weather does not always have to affect you but it has its influence and understanding that is often important. Just like understanding how and specifically what your customers value about your service. The subject of Free these days wells up many less than positive images of not being valued correctly. What is that your industry and customers value about your service? Like a lot of metric gathering, the data that is gathered by direct observation instead of reported behavior is usually more valuable. Periods like now encourage reflection and assessments of things that reflect upon ROI in ways that are often too subtle to discuss. Does what your client companies actually do match up with what they tell you and their market? Knowing that can keep you from giving away the valuable part of your services for free and charging only for the most negotiable/competitive aspect of your offering. This is exactly what social tools can/should be telling us. Where was value yesterday? Where is it today (based upon actions)?
Key points:
Micro Payments will help change our experience of media content as Choice is enabled one more small increment at a time. Ease will be essential but so will security and that's one reason why this is taking so long to happen. (trust is a key business theme for consumers and businesses right now).
Micro Payments will provide valuable feedback to marketers.
Micro payments will also change the way social tools serve us, eventually.
How We Value things is changing (quickly right now)
Direct observation versus reporting is desirable as we often do not register the changes until after they are well established. At a time when ROI is essential, direct reporting of consumer behavior is too.
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