By Year
06 Oct 2005
New Media Age: Search sector shaken
Google's announcement that it will end agency commission in the New Year has sent shockwaves through the European search sector and could bode ill for some agencies.
Even larger players question the policy. "It's difficult to understand why Google would do that," says Hynes. But putting a positive spin on the announcement, he says that Google is in 'consultative mode' and that he has had discussions with the search giant at the highest level. "Overall, we think this is a quality initiative for the industry," he says.
Hynes predicts that abandonment of commission will reward large players and penalise smaller players, but that this will benefit search in the long run. "There are a lot of players in the industry, many of which are smaller intermediaries that need to improve their capability," he says.
