E-Media Tidbits

Dumbfounded. That's how I feel after reading the news that trade publisher CMP Media is blocking inbound links from Google News. CMP executives want to turn away people referred to their content by the news service of the world's dominant search engine? (Here's what Google News users see, courtesy of Cyberjournalist.net.) That's insane, in my view. It reminds me of the line of thinking of the music industry in suing its customers over digital copying rather than focusing on providing a legitimate alternative -- of swimming against the tsunami instead of trying to ride it to profitability. CMP's approach is comparable. Google News referrals are a potential gold mine of customers. CMP would be better served by figuring out how to take advantage of those potential customers Google News sends its way. How about on Google News-referred article pages including marketing messages and offers to purchase CMP content and services?

Others commenting on CMP's dubious move include Jon Dube at Cyberjournalist.net and Steve Rubel on his Micropersuasion blog.

UPDATE: There's a new development on this story.