anon
07.05.09, 18:16
Google is under attack for profiting from content produced by newspaper executives, magazine publishers, and The Associated Press, but the company's Marissa Mayer on Wednesday sought to convince the U.S. Senate that Google adds to journalism, too.
The most recent attack, by Forbes.com Chief Executive Jim Spanfeller, decried "the parasitical nature of its business model" and asserted that Google makes about $60 million a year directing people to the Forbes site.
Mayer, who is vice president of search products and user experience and manages Google's search and Google News sites, wants people to see things differently. For starters, she made the case that directing people to news Web sites shouldn't be overlooked as a valuable service.
"Google News and Google search provide a valuable free service to online newspapers specifically by sending interested readers to their sites at a rate of more than 1 billion clicks per month. Newspapers use that Web traffic to increase their readership and generate additional revenue," she said, according to her prepared testimony.
Google: We're good for journalism | Webware - CNET (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10234622-2.html)
The most recent attack, by Forbes.com Chief Executive Jim Spanfeller, decried "the parasitical nature of its business model" and asserted that Google makes about $60 million a year directing people to the Forbes site.
Mayer, who is vice president of search products and user experience and manages Google's search and Google News sites, wants people to see things differently. For starters, she made the case that directing people to news Web sites shouldn't be overlooked as a valuable service.
"Google News and Google search provide a valuable free service to online newspapers specifically by sending interested readers to their sites at a rate of more than 1 billion clicks per month. Newspapers use that Web traffic to increase their readership and generate additional revenue," she said, according to her prepared testimony.
Google: We're good for journalism | Webware - CNET (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10234622-2.html)