If you missed it, it on BBC Iplayer here

I love the get the Old team together, and how they worked in the early days.

then Today :

Ther’s a great bit with Sir Alan Sugar.. classic..

Dave

Disruptive Technology

Disruptive technology is a term which I first heard at a Microsoft event,which in turn made me dig a little deeper, basically it describes a new technology that unexpectedly knocks out an established technology.

The more I thought about it a few things hit home. Take VCR’s when I was a kid these were the latest gadget the 1 thing you couldn’t live without, roll forward and we now have SKY+ (TIVO). This weekend I took my old VHS video collection to the skip that had been taking up valuable storage space, then I sorted out my TV cabinet. I guess i could just live with SKY, an Onkyo Amp and a PS3 ( I have xbox360 elite and a Nintendo Wii as well), but no VHS or DVD recorder, I just don’t need them.. but with BBC iplayer, SKY Player movie rental site etc and a High end Microsoft Vista PC I could end up with a PC and an ONKYO amp.

But then my kids point out that I can get everything that I need on my laptop and Shure headphones or even on my Mobile Phone and that’s the crux here, Google has Android, which a possible disruptive technology. But I still think that Microsoft has a major edge here, just like Vista is the OS for Business and Home Users, and lets face facts here Microsoft learns fast, all the things that we asked for in adchamps 2007 were delivered in adchamps 2008. Then we have Live Cashback, now this is a Disruptive Technology and Google will have to look deep if LIVE cashback takes off, then you have Xbox would you use Live.com to get Xbox points, which you could download the latest Films or Games etc, lets face facts Microsoft has a lot more in its arsenal I reckon we will start to see the big guns come out to play this year

DaveN

I really want to see the plus side of this as an advertiser but I can’t, other than that I can have the clients cancel their Yahoo accounts and just let Google serve the ads at a greater cost of course, well that’s how  Yahoo is going to make more money isn’t it ?

The way I read it is: That Yahoo will make an extra $250 million to $450 million in operating cash flow during the first 12 months, now it’s not by extra traffic, it’s by advertisers paying more per click and what if an advertiser like me has worked out that the CPA is different on different web properties, that Gmail, Youtube and ASK return poor results, where as Yahoo, Live and Google search don’t, at adChamps last Friday ( awesome it was, by the way ) Mary Berk spoke about quality, the way that I see it is that as a search engine you have 2 bites at that cherry, organic and paid, now I am not going to say that any of the 3  have organic fixed down to high quailty, but I believe that Live.com is getting more relevant in the Paid Ads in the US over Google.

So why is Live getting better ?  The noise in my head goes something like this, “just remember, they don’t need the money! “, and it’s true Microsoft as a company can keep testing and getting it right until they feel that the time is right to make money out of the project, I asked a few months ago why adcenter was not advertising on anything like XRank , the answer was simple, a smile and ” because we don’t have too ;) “, think Xbox are they making money on that yet ?

So, on Friday, I heard all the right things on where live and adcenter are going, I did get a feeling more “what a shame for Yahoo”, than “Fuck you Google”, I feel Microsoft wants to build a competitor to adwords, with the Google and Yahoo non merger, we lose another option to adwords.

Reference- Microsoft live default search engine deal with HP

Is setting up a default search engine on new PCs the best way to attract more people to it? Perhaps there maybe the thoughts if its rammed down your throat you are more likely to be defiant and use an alternative. Would it be better to have a policy for users to select their preferred browser search engine when setting up the new pc, or perhaps the option to test out each for a trial period and give feedback of what people liked etc.

Consumers love freedom of choice…

Microsoft have taken the first step in showing us their direction with the innovative use of media and technology, meet Microsoft Advertising. This business to business brand incorporates not only technology solutions but an entire extended media feature set. Demographic information has always been a weighty advantage in the Microsoft pocket and this advertising umbrella could well catch the eyes of those looking for an all- in- one solution. Mel Carson Microsoft endorses the advertising brand too. ( Well, ok I guess he would, wouldn’t he)

With industry partners Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) the brand looks solid, add to this the new multinational sales team offering a single point of contact and advertisers will feel supported. Windows Live Search is gaining momentum with more users trusting the results it provides.