Is Google a media owner or a technology company? According to Sir Martin Sorrell,
The co-founder and CEO of WPP, the world’s largest marketing and advertising company, Google is a “media owner masquerading as a technology company.”
The straight-talking Sorrell made this controversial observation in his annual state-of-the-union talk at Stream, WPP’s unconference held each year just outside Athens. And when I sat down with Sir Martin after his speech, we explored what he described as “the highly productive” relationship between WPP, the world’s largest communications company, and Google, the world’s largest technology company.
So is Sorrell correct – is Google really a media owner rather than technology company? And if it is, then should Google be required to behave as a media owner and be much more transparent about the way in which its technology favors its own content?