The Reality of Perception

We all know that most netizens have an iPod, Google has more impact on a wider audience than AOL, and Rolling Stone is the most read magazine for online music lovers.

Except that those assumptions are wrong, wrong, and wrong, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. (The truth -- just one out of seven online folks visited iTunes, AOL has a bigger audience of users who spends almost five times as long on their site as Google users, and Wired is the favorite magazine of iTunes enthusiasts).

You can't go a day without reading at least one headline mentioning Google and Apple, yet according to Nielsen/Netratings, users actually spend more time with Yahoo and Microsoft. The media (and I'll include bloggers) decide that some companies are the most interesting to follow, reinforcing the passions of the people who either love or loathe the companies.

That's why I think the iTunes phenomenon was probably the most over-hyped story of 2005, followed only by "Google continues path to world domination." Yes, the companies are significant, but by dedicating too much time to these two, we are missing out on other conpanies that are even more likely to impact our business.

This year will be the year that broadcast and print media fully commit to expanding their online audience and ecommerce, so paying attention to the companies (such as interactive agencies and streaming platforms) that will help The New York Times, Fox, and CBS to make serious money will be a smart use of time.