Murdoch's Cheap Search Target Revealed?
from the blinkx-twice dept
Last week, there was lots of buzz over Rupert Murdoch's announcement that News Corp was close to buying a cheap search engine, leading us to point to similarities to efforts by big media companies in the past to "get the internet" via "me-too" acquisitions they never quite figured out how to use. The story coming out today, however, is that the target of Murdoch's money is Blinkx, the search tool that received a bunch of hype a year ago, when it launched a client-side contextual search tool. The tool hasn't really lived up to the early hype, but continues to add features. It is a different kind of search engine, so it would avoid the issue of buying "yet another search engine." Also, given Blinkx's recent focus on multimedia, it certainly could fit well with a strategy to tie it into other News Corp properties. So, perhaps it isn't as bad as you might expect. However, it still is going to take a lot to prove that a big media company really can learn how to effectively make use of an internet acquisition.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Right Wing Distorted Search Engine
If you look democrat on a murdoch search engine you'll come with results that smear democrats. Look up Hugo Chavez and you'll probably come up with comparisons between chavez and hitler.
It would be best to keep newcorp off the internet and leave the internet to sources which are at least midly apolitical. Everything that guy touches turns into trash.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Right Wing Distorted Search Engine
That may be the single dumbest post I have ever seen.
Where are your facts to back up this assertion? If you look up Democrat on a Murdoch search engine--what you are likely to see is his second in command, Peter Chernin--a prominent D supporter. The man is as much of a business man as you are a fool.
As for your last comment, what you are saying is that you would that what is currently the world's most pre-eminent free speech medium, the Internet, and stifle the voices that you do not want to hear or choose not to agree with. You, Alaric, are the First Amendment's flag-waiver, aren't you. Open your mind up, buddy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]