More on You Tube-Google-Advertising Marketing-Copyright-Dentsu-Japan

August 3, 2007
By Ken Worsley

In the previous post, I talked a bit about You Tube’s official launch into the Japanese market and the issues it faces in terms of copyright protection. After publishing that, I came across a writeup in the Nikkei that sheds further light on what the Google/You Tube partnership faces in the Japanese market and how advertising dollars (as one might expect) tend to lurk behind everything these days.

The article is Japan TV Broadcasters Losing Opportunity By Shunning YouTube

An excerpt:

Another factor that distances Japanese media from Google is advertising. “While emphasizing synergy with the advertising industry, Google is working to eliminate the middleman,” said an executive at Dentsu Inc. The Internet ads that Google carries are basically uploaded by the advertisers themselves, giving Google discretion on where to place them.

Japanese ad agencies like Dentsu and Hakuhodo Inc., whose businesses are based on their ability to secure favorable ad slots on TV, in newspapers and on Internet portals, are trying to defend themselves from this new threat. “Under strong pressure from Dentsu and Hakuhodo, some private television networks and other media firms have been reluctant to partner with Google,” said a source in the Internet ad industry.

The author’s own opinion is clear, and he argues along the same lines that I do; Firms are losing out on opportunities to be ‘early adopters’ and thus see corresponding improvements in their brand image amongst target markets. Nonetheless, it is the powerful middlemen who stand in the way. As powerful as Dentsu ~~tells itself it~~ actually is, that firm will also have to join the 21st century at some point and begin shifting its value adding focus (or developing a new one) by offering consulting on using Google (or other online) advertising services for smaller firms as they grow more and more vocal in the internet marketplace.

Filed Under IT, Internet, Japan