Business Model Generation has a nice section on FREE. Ad-based multisided (usually web based) companies offer a utility for free in order to sell ad space. This is not a new idea. Google and FB do it the best because they are tracking your metadata and sell personalized ad space. What I’m wondering though is if ideas like Intel’s Museum of Me are feeding social graph and meta data to add personalization to their recent moves into gaming optimization tech, platforms and partnerships. In any case, this raises an interesting idea. What happens when brands start wanting to invest in free utilities purely in order to drive user data and personalization across their entire business model? Not only is the CTO merging with the CMO, but to me, in the future, ad agencies look more like tech/web-based start ups. They contribute not only awareness and connection to customers, but also insight into what customers need. A utility goes beyond a desire. Utility offers need fulfillment and intuitive design in exchange for data.

In March 2010, Google stopped its google.cn search service on the Chinese mainland and redirected traffic to its Hong Kong site-google.hk. This was a response to cyber attacks on Chinese human rights activists by the Chinese government in and outside of China. Moral judgments aside, this is my argument that Google actually has more in common with China than not, and that the best follow-up questioning to this event revolves not around the Google vs. China debate, but what their commonalities mean for us all.

In the virtual world, “Google” has become synonymous with “search” – the founding value behind most countries – while “Made in China” has become a brand in the physical world. Both China and Google have embraced “simulacra and simulation” to the n^th degree (Baudrillard). While Google leads in producing simulations of our world online, China has copied or simulated just about every product known to man, from Gucci glasses to prescription drugs. Jia Zhang Ke’s “The World” expresses the darker effects of this on the Chinese citizen’s psyche. At the same time, the Chinese Film Bureau accepted this film and assisted the production. Whatever your thoughts on the moral discussions surrounding Google and China…

It’s not often we come across people who find ingenious ways to follow their dreams. Tristan Shone is one such individual. Tristan creates music out of what others might see as industrial parts. He crafts his instruments by hand and hooks them up to his computer, transforming into a one-man band… all on his Lenovo laptop. OgilvyEntertainment is proud to bring you Tristan’s story.

The Internet is a beautiful thing.

The thing about ownership is, you don’t really own it.