Yesterday news rocked the Internet that Amazon.com founder, Jeff Bezos, bought the Washington Post.
Think about this for a moment, aye?
Amazon’s business model is far more than simply, well, “Amazon.com” where folks can buy anything under the sun, review products and the like.
It also includes AWS – Amazon Web Services.
To quote CNN’s article, Which Jeff Bezos Bought the Washington Post:
“…Now, when you watch a movie streamed from Netflix, you’re using AWS. When you check out your friend’s picture on Instagram, read a blog on Tumblr, pin something on Pinterest, you’re accessing AWS. Reddit, the “front page of the Internet”? That’s built on AWS. The infrastructure of the Obama for America re-election campaign — vaunted as the most technically sophisticated campaign in history — relied on AWS, too. The size, scale and impact of the AWS server cloud is massive and growing.
AWS is one of the most transformative and oft-overlooked technologies of the last decade. And it started as little more than a “hare-brained scheme,” as Benjamin Black, one of the original drafters of the technology, described it in 2009. AWS is about as “all of the buffalo” as you get in technology: Use every part of the tech stack so that your servers are always in use, either by you or by others….” MORE
Thus, the *platform* on which the Washington Post is built….now has an opportunity to grow in leaps and bounds.
That’s all very well and good, but how can you apply this to your own business for future marketing?
Consider the following.
Kindle News. Amazon owns Kindle. Amazon owns now the Washington Post. Think you there will soon be a tie-in for Kindle Users to get news the way *they* want it? What if the Washington Post was retweaked so that Kindle Users could have a one-stop destination for everything newsworthy (just like Google News)?
Google Product Listings. It was recently reported that Google is now giving preference to their own product listings over Amazon (re: Google Product Listing Ads Are A Big Threat To Amazon). This certainly can decrease Amazon revenues….unless Amazon comes up with a method to attract Google’s audience to its platform instead.
Think about that for a moment, aye?
Your future audience – will they find you on Google’s search engine? Amazon’s search engine? Other news organizations who perhaps use whatever Jeff Bezos plans to revolutionize in journalism today?
True, the world of search, right now, is heavily focused upon Google Search.
But now, one of the most innovative entrepreneurs has just invested in one of the gateways to journalism and the way news is spread online.
Only a fool would write that off as something not to consider for their business future.
Be sure to add in your Google News search the ability to keep track of Jeff Bezos’ future enhancements to the Washington Post. It will give you the headsup to prepare your business to take advantage of whatever innovations come to pass.
Grow strong,
Barbara Ling