In this installment, Mike and Allen talk about Yahoo in Google in the wake of their respective analyst/press days. 

In today's installment, Allen and Mike 'cast about the evolving online video market -- a subject we'll be returning to regularly.  For today, we'll focus on Apple's iTunes vs. Google's online video offering. Will consumer-created content be a deciding factor in who owns the online video market?

If you'd like to see our thoughts (Mike and mine) on Google's new video service, click here and you can read all about it on our company's Web site.

A few additional thoughts:

*At launch, it lacks the visual elegance of Apple iTunes.

*It's not easily discernable as to what videos can be downloaded to the iPod.

*There should be some promos or freebies to whet consumers' appetites.

Interesting. This sets the stage for the AOL-Microsoft relationship in which AOL uses “Fremont” as its classified platform or a hook-up with Google in which they use Google Base. Stay tuned!

AOL will no longer support personal classified listings, but will instead become an aggregator. The company issued a statement in response to an article in AuctionBytes Newsflash on Wednesday that referenced an email from a partner that AOL was closing its classifieds site altogether (http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y05/m12/i14/s00).

AOL spokesperson Cindy Harvey sent a statement regarding the AOL Classifieds Marketplace: "Due to a strategic shift in direction pertaining to our Search & Directional Media plans, the AOL Classifieds Marketplace will no longer support personal classifieds listings and as of December 31st will transition into an aggregator of listings from leading industry partners."

They are called Webclips. Looks interesting....Stay tuned.

Google officially announced Google Base today (see below). My take? Well, it’s party eBay, part Craigslist and part this crazy Web 2.0 notion where every tags his/her own content and everyone else adds their tags along the way. At this point, the community tagging is missing here, but I am sure it’s to come.

Also, it appears to be part of Google’s “open” strategy in that the company applies as few limiting standards are possible to cut down on the typical friction required to get anything done on the Web. It’s like the company’s IM strategy in which it used an open (XMPP) standard to encourage as many developers and third parties to become part of the federation. Google can afford this approach because of its massive ad revenue flow. It will get even better for Google once it opens up the Google Wallet as a payment scheme. That has to be coming soon as well.

Google Base is an extension of Google’s existing content collection efforts such as our traditional web crawl system, as well as Google Sitemaps, Google Print and Google Video – all which enable content owners to easily make their information searchable via Google. The goal of Google Base is to improve the overall quality and breadth of Google Search results by collecting even more information about a wider diversity of content.

Similar to a database, Google Base enables content owners to describe and assign attributes to it the information they upload and uses this meta-data to better target search results to what users are looking for. For example, if a chef chooses to upload their very best recipe for tamales he/she can further describe that recipe with a photo or by assigning attributes such as “medium-spicy” or “spicy.” When a user searches for the word [tamale recipes] from the Google Base homepage they will be presented with a list of recipe results accompanied by a list attributes at the top of page which enable them to further refine their search to “medium-spicy” or “hot” tamale recipes.

Google Base also creates a new opportunity for content producers to submit any kind of information even if it’s not a web page or online. This could range from an old family photograph to a large database of museum artifacts both of which may not have been previously accessible online. As part of the early-stage beta, Google has been working with a variety of commercial and non-commercial information providers. Some of which include:

• ArtNet an online art information source and marketplace is uploading information on artworks, artists, galleries and auction records.
• CareerBuilder an online job listings site is uploading its listings with various attributes including geographic location, field of profession and other information.\
• Collegeboard.org not-for-profit membership organization is uploading free information for students and parents about college admissions, financial aid, college selection, and other college planning resources.
• StepUp a local shopping services company uploading product lists from a variety of local retailers so that people searching can learn where to by products from stores near them.
• World Resources Institute an environmental think tank is uploading links to data on sustainability issues such as climate change, human health, and resource consumption.