The Mike Abundo Effect

No, that’s not a joke headline from The Onion. This is, without a doubt, the stupidest thing I’ve heard all year.

The National Telecommunication Commission plans to classify Web sites and other data posted on the Internet as a value added service that needs to registered with the government.

In the preliminary hearing of a draft memorandum circular on value added services, Edgardo Cabarrios, NTC director for common carrier and authorization department, said contents of Web sites such as Yahoo could be classified as a value added service in so far as its delivery is concerned.

“Telecom is delivery of content. When content is delivered it becomes a telecom service,” Cabarrios said.

See, this is why PayPal doesn’t send money to the Philippines. We’re governed by idiots who spend all day trying to figure out how to extort more kickbacks.

(From The Manila Times via Jim Ayson.)

Suzie Reider, Head of Advertising Sales at YouTube, writes a death note for TV advertising, postdated 3-4 years:

Asked how long it will take for YouTube to generate major revenues―in the billions―to rival television and other media, Ms. Reider, “It’ll take us three or four years, because none of us working in this area want to recreate the TV model. We’re not looking for 30-second commercial spots.”

She even announced the murder weapon. Find out what it is at Inside Online Video.

Despite all those Microsoft pages embedded into various Windows services, the people still choose Google.

For the first time, Google has edged ahead of Microsoft as the world’s most visited Internet property. Online measurement firm comScore Networks found that Google had just over a million more unique users in March than its arch-rival.

Google had 528 million unique visitors in March, up 5 percent from the previous month, according to comScore. Microsoft had 527 million visitors during the same month, up 3.7 percent.

Expect Google’s lead to widen, seeing as it’s now also the world’s top brand.

The Brandz list of the Top 100 Most Powerful Brands, compiled by Milward Brown, shows that Google has overtaken Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, General Electric and Microsoft - jumping from last year’s seventh place to first.

You know you’re huge when churches compare God to you. Later on, Google could leverage its Web dominance to push Microsoft Office off the desktop. Get Ballmer another chair.