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Columbia Journalism Review content tagged google

1. November 14, 2012 06:50 AM

   Apples and oranges on Google and publishers

   Print performance is bad enough without putting a thumb on the scale

   By Ryan Chittum

   Slate tells us that "Google ad revenue tops entire US print media industry" in the first six months of the year, based off this chart from a German outfit called Statista: Business Insider makes it its "CHART OF THE DAY" and says "Google Is Bigger Than The U.S. Print Ad Business." That's (sort of) accurate, but misleading. There's an apples-to-oranges...

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2. August 27, 2012 06:50 AM

   Audit Notes: China slows, Romney’s taxes, copyright

   Inventories pile up, posing another threat to the global economy

   By Ryan Chittum

   The New York Times looks at a glut of goods clogging up Chinese warehouses—an ominous sign for the global economy: Problems in China give some economists nightmares in which, in the worst case, the United States and much of the world slip back into recession as the Chinese economy sputters, the European currency zone collapses and political gridlock paralyzes the...

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3. September 19, 2011 07:25 PM

   Audit Notes: Economic Headwinds, Refinancing, Google’s Dominance

   By Ryan Chittum

   Crain's New York Business's Aaron Elstein takes a good look anecdotes at the headwinds New York's economy is facing from the growing financial crisis in Europe, the depressed U.S. economy. Businesses are becoming more risk-averse: “In my 30 years of business, this is the second-worst business environment I've ever seen, after the fall of 2008 and early 2009,” said Allan...

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4. August 10, 2012 09:28 PM

   Audit Notes: Google moves on copyright, The Daily Shoe, Olympics

   As its business interest aligns with content producers

   By Ryan Chittum

   Google will finally begin to penalize pirate sites in its search algorithm. What took so long? The Wall Street Journal is very good to put this context up high: The move comes as Google itself is attempting to become a major seller and distributor of professional video and music content through a variety of services, from its YouTube video site...

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5. January 4, 2011 11:31 PM

   Audit Notes: Google v. Groupon, BofA Deal, The 99ers

   By Ryan Chittum

   The Wall Street Journal's Shira Ovide writes that Google, spurned by Groupon despite its stunning $6 billion offer for the startup, is talking like it's going to start a similar service to compete. In other words: Google's going to have to try to conquer the local-coupon market the old-fashioned way: Create a business from scratch. Oh, and use its powerful...

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6. May 30, 2012 09:48 PM

   Audit Notes: Google’s stonewalling, Moody’s spin clinic, USDA mortgages

   An NYT story on how the company tried to stymie investigators of its Street View program

   By Ryan Chittum

   This New York Times story is a few days old, but worth flagging. The paper reports on Google's roguish reaction to inquiries about the privacy violations of its Street View program, which was discovered to be collecting data from homes' wireless signals as it photographed them: After French privacy regulators inspected a Street View car in early 2010, the company...

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7. February 15, 2011 06:10 PM

   Audit Notes: HBGary Federal, Jeff Sachs Goes Off, Gaming Google

   By Ryan Chittum

   ArsTechnica has a great ticktock on how the HBGary Federal scandal broke open, recounting how its CEO got into a battle he couldn't win with the hacker group Anonymous. ThinkProgress follows up on the HBGary Federal scandal, reporting that several of the firm's emails suggest that the Chamber of Commerce or its representatives were well aware of what the HBGary...

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8. December 13, 2010 08:17 PM

   Audit Notes: Risky Business, Two Economies, Google and Monopoly

   By Ryan Chittum

   The New York Times is good to keep an eye on signs of a return of risky lending. Today it looks at signs that the moribund credit-card industry is stirring again, which could be worrisome on a number of levels like getting more people into more debt and possible bubble behavior as a result of the Fed's monetary policies. But...

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9. October 21, 2011 02:32 PM

   Get a Life (Beyond the Web)

   Science writers struggle with time management

   By Cristine Russell

   FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA — Freelance science writer Steve Silberman might not be physically addicted to Twitter, but sometimes it seems like it. With nearly 15,000 followers and 25,000 tweets, he gets an online rush when tweeting and surfing the web and can easily see hours slip by without knowing it, falling into what he calls his “Twitter alcoholic blackout.” Silberman, who...

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10. December 13, 2010 11:46 AM

    Google’s Search Dominance Comes In Handy for Its Other Businesses

    The Wall Street Journal looks at a key competitive issue on the Web.

    By Ryan Chittum

    Google has a near-monopoly on search in the U.S. It uses that dominant position to boost its other businesses at the expense of competitors. We've got a problem here. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at that this morning, pointing out how the search giant is able to dominate —or at least gain a significant position in—other aspects of...

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11. November 2, 2012 11:47 AM

    It’s about the info, not the outlet

    Google's mapped information on Sandy topped anything news organizations offered

    By Anna Codrea-Rado

    Data journalism and information visualization is a burgeoning field. Every week, Between the Spreadsheets will analyze, interrogate, and explore emerging work in this area. Between the Spreadsheets is brought to you by CJR and Columbia’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism. As Hurricane Sandy devastated the eastern seaboard, news outlets, networks, and Twitter flooded the airwaves with information. For those able...

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12. December 15, 2010 04:19 PM

    Pearlstein Takes On Google’s Threat to Competition

    By Ryan Chittum

    The Washington Post's Steven Pearlstein takes up the Google monopoly case today with an excellent column in The Washington Post. If you want to know why there's a problem with what Google's doing, this is about the best place to start. This is a critical point: Organic growth=good. Growth by deal=bad, at least for a company the size of Google...

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13. February 8, 2012 11:31 AM

    Stories I’d Like to See

    A trove of stories from the Facebook IPO

    By Steven Brill

    In his weekly “Stories I’d Like to See” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion, have received insufficient media attention. This article was originally published on Reuters.com. Facebook’s landmark IPO filing suggests lots of meaty stories. Among them: 1. Facebook, third parties and data security: Embedded in the typically long recitation of “risk factors” designed...

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14. January 25, 2012 06:36 PM

    The Journal Takes Us Inside the Google Drugs Sting

    By Ryan Chittum

    The Wall Street Journal has an excellent page-one story today on how federal agents caught Google deliberately breaking the law so it could make money off sites selling drugs online. That case ended with a settlement in which Google avoided criminal prosecution by paying the feds more than half a billion dollars. The Journal's leder traces how the government employed...

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15. February 17, 2012 01:40 PM

    The WSJ Exposes Google’s Tracking Hack

    By Ryan Chittum

    The Wall Street Journal has a big scoop this morning on how Google and other companies overrode Apple privacy settings in order aid their products and ads, a move that also allowed third-party advertisers to track users on the Web. Julia Angwin and Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, continuing the paper's What They Know series, report that Google designed code to "trick" Apple's...

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16. January 25, 2011 12:00 PM

    The Growing Problem of Search Engine Spam

    And what Google says it’s doing about it

    By Lauren Kirchner

    Last week, Google News’s Krishna Bharat spoke at Columbia University about what makes his search engine so helpful and efficient for journalists. Reporters and editors don’t need to spend time thinking about marketing the news they produce to the whole world’s audience, he argued—they can concentrate on the production side, and Google’s algorithm will take care of delivering readers to...

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17. March 16, 2011 04:55 PM

    The Internet’s Least Helpful Webpages

    How content farms do Japan

    By Lauren Kirchner

    Taking to Google with your questions about the fast-breaking situation in Japan can lead down some pretty strange paths—paths to articles that are sometimes misinformed, sometimes misleading, and sometimes downright nonsensical. If you Google “Japan” and click “News,” as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, the first hit is The Huffington Post contributor column “A Glimpse Into Our Own Future: Japan’s...

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