Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Watch Super Tuesday Events Unfold on GNN
byThat's no typo. GNN is the Google News Network, and although they don't call themselves that, it is certainly part of what they are. From a news perspective, Google is a network that grew out of a web-based business model. CNN, Fox and other major news networks certainly have major web components to their efforts, but their business model grew out of the television era.
For Super Tuesday coverage, Google's approach to today's events represents that web heritage. YouTube (a Google company) is offering a unique perspective to Super Tuesday coverage with an interesting mashup. It's an interactive map, and as they explain it:
Upload your political opinions, analysis, interviews, or campaign trail footage to YouTube and submit it here. Then zoom in on the map to watch Super Tuesday political videos from voters, candidates, and news outlets in your state.
The YouTube approach represents a mix of mainstream media and user-generated content that will probably provide a more intimate look at the news as it happens.
Today's YouTube coverage is part of their whole You Choose '08 platform. It's an approach that certainly lends itself well to the sharing nature of today's web culture, rather than the reporting approach of the television networks.
Google News will also play a part in today's coverage. Alexa traffic details show Google as a whole has grown from a daily reach of 23 percent of the population to 29 percent in the last six months. That is about a 25 percent increase! In that same period, YouTube has gone from a daily reach of 12 percent to almost 20 percent—an even bigger percentage gain.
Contrast that with CNN's website that has a daily reach of about 1.2 percent, and the Fox News website that reaches less than 0.2 percent of the population on any day. Given the disparity in these Alexa statistics, that represents a tremendous exposure advantage for Google/YouTube regarding anything to do with online coverage.
