There are days when even I feel sorry for the 'damned if you do - damned if you don't' existence of the BBC. Now they're under scrutiny over plans to launch hyper local services.
ITV launched their online ITV Local service some three years ago and local radio stations and newspapers are already under the cosh thanks to dwindling figures and receding advertising.
There seems to be a strange thing happening in the UK. As the vacuum created by the 'Google Gap' is increasing, more and more of it is being taken up not by commercial organisations, but by the PBS giant and its quasi-commercial spinoffs.
This situation is being exasperated by advertisers' inability to translate the Google long tail ad model to other media providers.
Martin Sorrell, for one, should stop whingeing and get his company's media buyers to start backing local and targeted media outlets, however small they are. Using the acquisition of 24/7 Real Media would be one way of doing this and launching a Google rival based on WPP's media buying clout.
ITV launched their online ITV Local service some three years ago and local radio stations and newspapers are already under the cosh thanks to dwindling figures and receding advertising.
There seems to be a strange thing happening in the UK. As the vacuum created by the 'Google Gap' is increasing, more and more of it is being taken up not by commercial organisations, but by the PBS giant and its quasi-commercial spinoffs.
This situation is being exasperated by advertisers' inability to translate the Google long tail ad model to other media providers.
Martin Sorrell, for one, should stop whingeing and get his company's media buyers to start backing local and targeted media outlets, however small they are. Using the acquisition of 24/7 Real Media would be one way of doing this and launching a Google rival based on WPP's media buying clout.
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