Would you do what Google does?

  [caption id="attachment_188" align="alignright" width="330" caption="WWGD"][/caption] I just finished reading the Book "What would google do" from Jeff Jarvis. It is an interesting book but it puzzles me on two parts. In two words: Adds and Apples.   As for Adds, on the one hand he stresses the importance of the business model of Google by selling adds based on the data that you collect of a person. And of course, Google is wildly successful in selling adds. But on the other hand he explains that, due to the networked transparency that the Internet creates, advertising is less important. He even points out that not needing to advertise is a sign of success. To me that sounds like a contradiction. The more successful companies become in using the transparency of the Internet (created and improved in a large part by Google) the less profitable Google will become (and therefore not being able anymore to sustain their role in creating transparency). This catch 22 type of situation will no doubt have some equilibrium but is totally disregarded by Jeff Jarvis. Another question about the business models on advertising that always puzzles me how far it ...