On Being Google's B*tch

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Last night, I attended a panel discussion on Web 2.0 marketing where Derek Gordon (VP Marketing, Technorati) had this awesome sound bite:

“Our ad server, Doubleclick, just got bought by Google; our most popular content, YouTube, is owned by Google; most of our referrers come from Google; Wow, I’m Google’s…you know. Doesn’t feel so good when you don’t own stock.”

And my second favorite quote:

“I don’t think there will be a Web 3.0, I think there will be a Mobile 1.0. If you want to see the future, go to South Korea and hang out with a 15 or 16 year old. Not in a creepy way…”

Derek had the crowd laughing out loud multiple times over the course of the night. If you ever get the chance to hear him speak, I highly recommend it.

The panel as a whole was targeted at brand marketers who were new to social media, so content was around “participating in the conversation” and “being authentic.” While none of this was news to those of us in the sector, I always enjoy hearing people’s perspectives firsthand.

Mike Murphy – VP Media Sales, Facebook

  • “75 years ago, people were buying and selling from people they knew. Let’s hope we haven’t forgotten how to do that” – On social media & e-commerce
  • “Web 2.0 hates advertising but if you can make an offer part of the experience – sort of a membership has its privileges – you can make something happen.”
  • “Yahoo, AOL, MSN & Google control 97 cents of every dollar on the web. OK, maybe it’s more like 96 cents.”

Ben Elowitz – Co-Founder and CEO, Wetpaint; Co-founder Blue Nile

  • “If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing.”
  • “When people want to go deep, they want to interact with like-minded people; niches are important.”

 Norman Guadagno РChief Marketing Officer, ZAAZ

  • “This is a partial attention economy. Ignore him, listen to me.”
  • “Don’t stick funny videos on YouTube if they are not going to meet your business goals. What is your business goal? How does your viral campaign help that?”

Derek Gordon, VP Marketing, Technorati

  • “People are hitting ‘Publish’ before they proof-read…that’s why it’s so FUN!”