Mark Evans

All Google, All the Time (Yikes!)

Over the past few years, I’ve adopted a non-Microsoft policy. Instead of IE, I use Firefox; instead of Outlook, I use Thunderbird; instead of Vista/XP, I use Mac; instead of Hotmail, I use GMail. The exception is Microsoft Office, which continues to be a staple despite some looks at Open Office. It’s not that I don’t like Microsoft or its products; it’s more a goal to support rival services.

As Microsoft has been shunted to the sidelines, Google has grabbed more of the spotlight. My Google applications include GMail, Google search (regular, images, news, blog), Google documents, Google Calendar and, most recently, Picasa. It’s gotten to the point where Google dominates my online landscape. The question is whether there’s a danger about not sharing the wealth. As someone who likes to support the little guy, is it time to explore some non-Google services?

One service I’ve started using again is Blogdigger, a blog search engine created by Greg Gershman. I used to be a big Blogdigger fan before Google Blog search emerged. I’ve been using Blogdigger again after getting an e-mail from Greg that he’s coming to the mesh conference this week in Toronto (I’m one of the five organizers). It wasn’t just Greg’s e-mail that got me on the Blogdigger bandwagon again but my disappointment recently with Google Blog search’s results, which appear to be far from current or comprehensive enough. As well, some blogs simply don’t appear in the ranking. My Nortel blog, for example, is non-existent despite the fact it’s probably the only blog focused entirely on Nortel.

Still, it’s hard to give up Google services because they’re good. For example, I’ve used a number of photo-editors, and really been impressed by Picasa. One quibble is it’s tied to other Google services so you can’t use it to link with a blog unless you’re a Blogger user.

In terms of the search market, clearly more people are Google believers. The latest Comscore numbers show that Google has 50% of the market while Yahoo has 27%, Microsoft 10% and AOL and Ask.com 5% each. Don Dodge estimates every point of search engine market share is worth at least $1-billion of market capitalization, and then provides some eye-opening number-crunching.

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Manitoba Tel’s New Wireless Dreams

For all the talk about how Manitoba Telecom and Quebecor want to purchase spectrum so they can create Canada’s fourth wireless carrier is the reality that Manitoba Tel could have already been the fourth wireless carrier if ex-CEO Bill Fraser hasn’t made a major strategic mistake three years ago. In late-2003, Microcell Telecommunications was the Canadian wireless rebel with consumer-friendly (read: aggressive pricing) packages that incensed the Big Three: Rogers, Telus and Bell.

The Big Three made it perfectly clear that in an ideal world, Microcell would disappear so that rational pricing could return to the wireless landscape. And Telus CEO Darren Entwistle started the dominos falling when Telus put Microcell in play with an unsolicited takeover offer. Entwistle eventually got what he wanted when Rogers stepped into fray with a $1.4-billion purchase. The purchase was approved by the federal Competition Bureau with hardly a whimper from consumer, and disciplined pricing (read: no deals) has existed ever since - making analyst, investors and the wireless carriers happy as pie.

The entire landscape could have been totally different if Fraser had adopted a different strategic approach. Intent on making Manitoba Tel a national carrier, he bought Allstream for $1.8-billion. It was a major coup for Allstream’s senior management team, which had recently taken the company out of bankruptcy protection and got it publicly trading. Nevertheless, Allstream was a dog with declining revenue (including less business from its former major shareholder, AT&T) and a network consisting of different technologies.

What still puzzles many people is why Fraser went after a company operating in a highly-competitive, low-margin business rather than getting in the high-growth, high-margin wireless market where penetration rates were just 40%. If he had spent the $1.8-billion to acquire Microcell rather than Allstream, Manitoba Tel’s competitive position and the wireless market would have been completely different. Three years later, Manitoba Tel is trying to get back in the game - having missed out on a three-year period of huge growth and profits.

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Letters 2.0

The art of writing a letter is dead, right? I mean, who sends letters these deals when you can whip off an e-mail and have it delivered in seconds to someone half-way across the world? Well, Easypost.ca wants to turn the tide with a useful, if not perplexing, service that lets you send letters to people. Here’s how it works: you head on over to Easypost.ca and fill out two boxes: one with the address of the person getting the letter, and the other for whatever you want to write. You then hit submit, and the letter is delivered. It’s free, easy, there’s no registration required, and absolutely no sign of a business plan. So, it really is a bonafide Web 2.0 service. If you check out the FAQ, it suggests the free letter-writing service is free while it beta (typical Web 2.0) but that down the road a small fee will be charged for some services. In terms of who operates Easypost.ca, the FAQ says: “Some cool people from Canada and a small team of hamsters.” (Hat tip to StartUpNorth for discovering Easypost)

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How Did Facebook Happen?

You know something’s beyond super red-hot when it becomes a verb or noun. “Pass me a Kleenex” or “Just Google It” or “I’ll Blackberry You Later”. Well, Facebook is becoming a verb, a noun, an adjective, etc. It seems everyone now has a Facebook account or is being pressured into getting one if you want to hang out with the cool kids. But how it did it happen? Is Mark Zuckerberg a genius, or the luckiest guy on earth other than Sergey Bryn, Larry Page and Mark Cuban. And as Facebook grows, could MySpace be the next Friendster? Do you think Rupert Murdoch has a Facebook account?

You want to hear some staggering Facebook numbers that came out of a jammed-packed, dot-com like press conference in San Francisco earlier today?

Facebook is growing by 100,000 new users a day, 50% of registered users come back every day, the service generates 40 billion page view a month (or 50 pages per user every day); it’s not the sixth-most popular site in the U.S.

Facebook is a online tidal wave flowing through cyberspace. Some people are suggesting it’s becoming the social networking OS as it launches Facebook Platform, which will allow other applications to tie into the Facebook landscape. Unreal, baby, unreal.

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Nice to be a Billionaire!

What would you do if you were a billionaire? Personally, I’d set up my own venture capital firm so I could finance all those super-cool Canadian start-ups struggling for some love. If you’re Jim Balsillie (aka Mr. co-Blackberry), you buy a hockey team, the Nashville Predators, for a cool $200-million or so. If you’re Google’s Sergey Brin, you keep your money safely tucked inside your wallet, and get Google to invest $3.9-million in your wife’s bio-tech start-up. Personally, I’d buy the hockey team but, hey, I’m Canadian.

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This Google Deal Feels Wrong

As much as I’m happy for FeedBurner’s founders and investors, the company’s $100-million purchase by Google feels, well, wrong.

It seems wrong for Google, which dominates the search and CPC markets, will also establish itself as the leading RSS player. Not sure why but you know when deals feel right and you know when deals feel wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I can see why Google made this year. In fact, I’m surprised that another suitor hadn’t stepped up before. FeedBurner is not only the leading RSS publishing tool but its brand and RSS are increasingly intertwined. As well, FeedBurner has become a leading advertising service provider in RSS feeds. Nevertheless, I never thought a company has cool as FeedBurner would end up in the arms of Google. Then again, maybe money talks. $100-million is awful lot of dough, especially considering FeedBurner hasn’t taken in much venture capital. Here’s hoping Google somehow maintains FeedBurner’s spirit and cache but my feeling is it may just open the door for another competitor to emerge if people are looking for a Google alternative.

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Vancouver Rules the Domain World

The cover story, “The Man Who Owns the Internet” on the latest issue of Business 2.0 offers some fascinating insight into how a small group of savvy businessmen dominate the business of buying, selling and managing domain names. It turns out that many of them, including the leading domainer, Kevin Ham, live in Vancouver - or used to live there before moving to a tropical island. It’s pretty interesting considering the .ca domain world was tightly controlled during the dot-com boom, while the .com business exploded. What’s particularly interesting about Ham’s business is his new strategic focus on evolving from a domainer into a media mogul. He figures that since he owns thousands of popular domain names, why not add some content to the adds so you can make into a full-featured destination/portal. “It’s time to build out the virtual real estate,” Ham said in the article. “There’s so much more value in these names than pay-per-click.” By the way, Ham’s estimated to be worth $300-million.

Update: The New York Times has a story today (May 28) looking at NameMedia, which raised $120-million last year and owns 725,000 domain names.

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Bloggers are More Connected

According to a study done by Plaxo, bloggers are more connected than journalists. How’s that? Comparing the size of address books of a bunch of different professions, bloggers have an average of 267 bloggers while reporters have 247 contacts. Talent Agents are the most connected with an average of more than 628 contacts.

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Nepotism 2.0!

If you’re a Google shareholder, how do you feel about the fact the company has invested $3.9-million in a bio-tech start-up? I suspect you’re probably scratching your head a little wondering about the connection between a search engine and bio-tech, although you could make a pretty good argument there is probably a connection between search engine algorithms and doing bio-tech research. Then, you might be a little more puzzled when you find out that the start-up, 23andMe, was co-founded by Sergey Brin’s wife last year. Given Bryn is worth $14-billion, you think he’d really want to keep church and state separated by making the investment himself. I know that I would…but, then again, I don’t have $14-billion! Is this another example of new billionaire hubris following the whole private plane debacle last year, or yet another savvy start-up investment by Google? By the way, does anyone find it deliciously ironic that 23andMe’s slogan is “Genetics is About to Get Personal”?

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Arrington Sounds the Alarm

Michael Arrington has done a terrific job riding the Web 2.0 wave. Starting as a little known blogger in 2005, he has created the TechCrunch empire and, in the process, positioned himself as the one of the most influential people on the Web. So it’s surprising, if not shocking, to see him write a post suggesting that things within Silicon Valley have gotten out of hand. It’s like Arrington helped create a huge, wild party - and he’s now trying to hustle people out the door.

“I left Silicon Valley at the peak of the insanity last time around, and I was pleasantly surprised when I returned in 2005 to see so much goodwill and community surrounding innovation,” he wrote. “Now, it’s just like the old days again, and Silicon Valley is no longer any fun. In fact, it’s turned downright nasty. It may be time for some of use to leave for a while and watch the craziness from the outside again.”

Maybe Arrington is being prematurely alarmed by all the venture capital being invested, the M&A activity, and the growing hype within the media - all of which is reminiscent of the dot-com boom. But perhaps it’s a healthy thing if someone, especially someone with Arrington’s profile, put the spotlight on the investment, start-up and media frenzy now happening. It must be difficult for him to be the Paul Revere (or Laura Second for Canadian historians) who’s charged with the job of warning the Web 2.0 community that trouble may be on the horizon.

For other views, check out BoomTown, who suggests Arrington just say no to the tsunami of PR practitioners trying to bang down his door. Meanwhile, Dave Winer applauds Arrington’s move as “cool”, and wonders what kind of reception he’ll be getting from “VCs and BigCo execs”.

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