I finally figured out what business Google will be in 10 years from now: the media measurement business. Google will be the new “data” company known for measuring media habits, advertising effectiveness and purchase predisposition. The company born of search will become the world’s leading marketing analytics company.
Google’s work with the Nielson Company measuring cable TV viewership takes TV advertising accountability to a new level. We already know what Google has done with its AdWords program, which is probably only a few months away from being a lot more timely, powerful and predictive. And should they decide to focus on it, digital radio won’t be far behind. Google’s analytics and algorithms will help advertisers optimize ads, and trust me, that is a sweetspot. The only hiccup I see is if someone high up in the company, responsible for this part of the business, decides to venture off before Google completely believes in the effort.
I’m no economist and forget what the exact data point is, but advertising and marketing is somewhere over 20% of the U.S. GDP. To be the company known for optimizing that chunk of change is a reachable goal for Google…and a truly focused mission, which it smilingly lacks right now.
