All quotes are paraphrased:
Charlie Rose asked: “what’s the original business model of Google?”
Eric Schmidt: “Larry and Sergey tried to sell the search technology just invented to all of the then powerful Internet companies, but everyone turned them down. They said we don’t know how to work with you, you’re too young, that sort of things.”
When talking about percentage of advertising revenues to total revenues, Eric Schmidt said “98%. We’re an advertising company.” “Today, our strategy is search, ads, and apps.”
On acquisition, “We’re not going to buy anything in the short term (including Twitter). Partly because I think the prices are still too high.” (my thought: the (perceived) valuations of U.S. hot startups shrinked quite a bit recently. Is the “too high” simply indicates that Eric Schmidt is not confident enough about the economy outlook?)
Joke time: “The vast majority of the photographs people taken with their phones are kept in the phones because they can’t get them out of them.” “We’re going to solve that problem.”
Eric Schmidt: “One of the things I like to see in the future is that Google (& YouTube) as the “politicians BS detector.”
“95% of ads served on Google are text ads”
“Contextual ads are not the only way for user-generated content monetization, think about micropayment. Say you have millions of audiences, 2 cents, 5 cents per view will be quite lucrative. We’ re seeing related technologies and tools being developed in the industry, and I think they are likely to be successful.”
Charlie Rose asked about what’s on the edge? Eric Schmidt: “If you’re willing to give Google more information about you, i.e. interest, background, etc., Google will do more for you. Say, you’re on a street with your GPS-enabled phone, and Google should search for and tell you what you may be interested in nearby, automatically.” “Imagine that the people, the phone, and the constant search create a narrative stream.”
“We work in a technology where prices are improving.”
More philosophical talks on the latter part: “Press the ‘off-button’ — just because I have access to all (crisis) information doesn’t mean I have to worry about all of them.”
Also a very interesting question in the end asked by Charlie Rose: “Are people in technology different?” Eric Schmidt: “Technologists as a group tend to be more analytical, data-driven, more personally liberal, more willingly to tolerate the difference among people, more global in their focus…People in technology believe that they can create a whole new business…believe they can change the world from technology.”
And there you go: the full interview video
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