Google on Newspapers
I spent close to 20 years in telecommunications starting in the mid-80s and saw first hand the impact the internet and its related technologies had on that industry. The price of a telecommunication class 5 switch dropped 99% from $400/port to a couple of bucks/port (and guess what happened to the price of Lucent stock). The cost to place a domestic long distance call has dropped 100% (fortunately companies like Verizon and AT&T were more adept than Lucent and found new revenue sources). The ripple effect his had created on the entire US economy created a recession in the late 90s.
Well, it is no surprise the same thing is happening to the media market. According to the Newspaper Association of America, newspaper ad revenues dropped 28% in the 3Q09. If you believe Google searches are the best arbiter of a trend, try entering “newspapers are†in to a Google search and look at what Google suggest.
The point here is that I learned from the lessons of the 90’s and with northcarolina.me am trying to get a head of the curve. I believe the strategy is sound. Now I just need to focus on execution.