There has been a lot of tension between the newspaper industry and search giant Google lately. Old media executives on both sides of the Atlantic believe that the Big G is going to destroy the business model of print media with its (free) online new aggregator Google News. CEO Eric Schmidt believes that a total misconception. In a recent interview with the New Yorker’s media reporter Ken Auletta, he said that media companies should see Google not as an enemy but as an ally that’s trying to make advertising work on the Internet. He even emphasized Google’s interest in a prosperous future of the newspapers. “It’s a huge moral imperative to help here”, he said. Google’s goal “isn’t to monetize everything. The goal is to change the world. … We don’t have an evil meter.”

My take: 1. Newspaper must learn to embrace Google instead of fighting it. Plus: They won’t be able successfully monetize their content on the World Wide Web by themselves in the long run (the Big G is already too dominant in online advertising). 2. I am sure these comments by Eric Schmidt weren’t exactly consoling for the old media managers.