Digression: Blogs v. Press Releases

Several readers calmly disagreed with my annoyance that Google delivered the settlement news through its blog.  This led me to wonder whether I am just being a dinosaur (akin to people who still complain that CDs don't sound as good as records and that the New York Times never should have gone to color).

After considering several thoughtful responses, here's what I think:

My first problem with Google's announcement was that, last night, I couldn't find it anywhere on the "press", "investor relations," or "company news" sections of the site.  It's there now, but it wasn't when I first checked.  As a result, I had to surf around until I found a blog that linked to the post. This made me feel that, not only was Google trying to downplay the news by reducing it to a blog post, they were dressing it up as a mere "update" instead of an important announcement.

My second problem was that click fraud is an issue of serious concern to many Google observers, whether or not it should be.  Three-Alarm George (CFO Reyes) said a year ago that click fraud could bring down the company, and, since then, the drumbeat has gotten louder.  And inasmuch as CEO Eric Schmidt was the one to tell us six days ago that click-fraud was immaterial, I again felt that the company was trying to play down the news by delivering it through the chatty voice of an associate general counsel.

My third problem was that, whether blogs should be or not (and whether they will be in 10 years or not), they are a less formal means of communication than press releases.  To choose a less formal tool, therefore, implied again that Google thinks that this is not really news (and, just as important, doesn't care whether we disagree).  In my mind, a smart PR team would always err on the side of gravity:

"We realize that many of our customers and advertisers are concerned about click fraud.  Allthough we think this concern is largely unwarranted, we take it very seriously.  We continue to believe that our click-fraud detection systems are superb, but we are also committed to further improving them.  With this goal in mind, we have..."  Etc.

My fourth problem is that blog posts are, by nature, identified with an individual (in this case, Nicole) rather than a corporation.  Sometimes, corporations are just better off speaking as corporations.  If Nicole (and George, Eric, Larry, or Sergey) want to contribute pithy quotes to a press release, fine--this assures us that the bigwigs care.  But advertisers and shareholders are putting their faith in Google, not an individual, and I think news of this sort more appropriately comes from the corporation.

Lastly, as I suggested in a comment attached to the original post, the fact that blogs are the less formal option (in some cases, very informal) suggests to me that Google doesn't care enough about what advertisers and investors think to bother upgrading the communication to a formal press release.  To me, this feels like wearing a t-shirt to a job interview.  It may not be an indication of how well you will do the job, and a rare interviewer might think it was cool.  The vast majority of interviewers, however, will think, "So s/he doesn't even care enough about what I think to put on a real shirt?  Imagine how much s/he is going to care about whether I think s/he is doing a good job."

Bottom line, in a few years, blogs may become as formal and accepted as press releases.  In the meantime, they aren't, and I think the smart companies are the ones that just use them to:

1) explain and expound on formal news and announcements,

2) discuss stuff that really isn't news (today's GoogleBlog comments on the Writely acquisition, for example), and

3) give high-profile executives a chance to give their personal take on various issues, explain why they made decisions, etc.

(I should, of course, add that all this is coming from a guy who has some experience with the hazards of informal communications).

Comments

[/pd]

"1) explain and expound on formal news and announcements, "

Why ?? To change the world, you first need to be the change !! - Gandhi

2) discuss stuff that really isn't news (today's GoogleBlog comments on the Writely acquisition, for example), and

GoogleBlog is the official communiction tool for google. Refer to my response#1. To bad that you dont sub to GoogleBlog

3) give high-profile executives a chance to give their personal take on various issues, explain why they made decisions, etc.

On the other hand, this validates Google's claim that clickfraud is not that big a deal and therefore and therby the C level folks really dont need to explain their decesion making process and or give their personal opionion. Maybe they are "wise up" to the foot in the mouth syndrom !!

[/pd]

Oh i had to post this wrt to PR ..

"It used to be I would schmooze you and I was your flack,” said Mr. Edelman, whose firm netted about $260 million in 2005. “Today, if we want to get a message into the public’s conversation, we just make a post on a blog"

via :jeffJarvis

[Neal Lachman]

/pd,

I think there is a difference between other companies and Google. The latter is the world's most valuable media company. It has thousands of investors who are holding tight on every inch of information they can find in order to decide the future of their holdings. The press release would be sent out through business wire and others, reaching the normal bunch of media that on their turn can inform investors around the world, even in real-time as they will post the updates on their websites almost immidiately.

If you have a $100B company, would you think you can treat your investors the way Google did? Also, the blog was aimed at finance folks, but how many finance folks have the time too constantly update themselves by way of blogs?

[andrew]

/pd,

regardless of how wide the range of Googleblog is, posting an all important message such as that on a blog which only a certain segment of the market/public employs was a low class, low ball, cheap shot way of avoiding stepping into the ring. Put it in another context: Ali in his prime having his best friends, third cousins' sister challenge Frasier. You'd never see or even hear him do such, y? because he had class, guts, and BALLS!!! something that google with all it's pHds does not!!!

[KH Stroem]

I'm with Henry on this

- Google is becoming more and more arrogant and although Page was quoted (in the recent Time interview) as saying that he prefers the public/competition to think they are nuts rather then to know what they are doing/going - they are now moving from nuts to arrogant.

[/pd]

Neal :"The latter is the world's most valuable media company." --Thats your opnion - not mine and it may not be the rest of the worlds too. We both can have differences of opinion and we both are entilted to them -correct ??
"how many finance folks have the time too constantly update themselves by way of blogs" - only the smart ones !! Why does Forbes/Fortune and others track blogs ? Not to mention the Industry analsyst and AR folks !!

Andrew: I think you need to get a life -its a strategy no biggie- understand the undertone of whats happening and then you be able to dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee !! :)-

[Neal Lachman]

/pd,

I give up. You are right. Blogs rule, screw the WSJ, FT, and all national financial media in the world. I am looking forward to search though a million blogs to find crucial information. I have too much time on hand anyway. So does the rest of the world.

[Kevin Harper]

I'm a big believer in blogs and "new media." I'm also a former PR guy, so I can see both sides of this. But I have to agree with Henry here.

You have to admit, Google is a bit self indulgent and undisciplined to post news of their $90 million settlement in the same blog space as today's mission-critical update from a pug dog.

[Neal Lachman]

Major news: Bill Gates just announced (through a new microsoft.corporate.office.com blog) that he will now onward do all major announcements through that very blog. He is also trying to convince his buddy Buffet (fellow richest American, be it a distant 2nd) to post Berkshire annual reports and letters to BH shareholders via a cool blog at www.berkshire.blog.com

(ok, it is 3:30AM on a Friday night in Europe - I am bored).

[Dominic Jones]

Google knows, or should know, that investors go to investor relations sections and news areas on corporate sites for their information.

Investors expect relevant information to be posted in these sections. Like Henry, they do not expect relevant or material information to be posted on blogs. In fact, they don't expect information to be posted only on a company's website. They expect a news release and/or an SEC filing.

Of the 525 companies that I have reviewed in the past six months, only 8% have RSS feeds and only 3% have blogs, and none has an "official blog." Furthermore, investors and analysts are mostly not using RSS, according to a recent survey by Thomson Financial.

So, there is no precedent for relevant, if not material information to be disseminated via a blog.

Now I admit that Google can and has defined the search experience. But Google cannot redefine how investors receive corporate information or their expectations for where information should be posted on a company's website.

That convention is established by every other company in the market. To ignore this is either plain arrogance or something more. Considering how Google failed to fess up on its PowerPoint debacle until its hand was forced by a blog posting of the notes, I think it is more.

The Don't Be Evil thing is really starting to ring hollow...

[Neal Lachman]

Finally some pro validating what we normal folks already knew. Dominic, thanks for the exact data.

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[Neal Lachman]

How can you post blogs if you don't have one?

Google zaps official blog by mistake
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/03/28/76873_HNgooglezapsblog_1.html?source=NLC-TB2006-03-28

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