Unlike some people who head for the antacids, Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt actually may thrive on criticism. Yes, according to AP, he told a questioner at Tuesday’s Bear Stearns gathering: “I’m sure we’re arrogant.” He dismisses much of the criticism as a way of negotiating but he also says there is a “genuine disagreement.” Traditional media talk about the value of content—“Google says: prove it ... That’s often a difficult conversation. Ultimately, product value is determined if people view it. They vote with their clicks, they vote with where they go.” His comments came the same day as Microsoft’s attack in front of book publishers.
FT: Schmidt: “I have learned that as part of being a player in the media industry, the way one negotiates is everything is leaked and you’re sued to death. So the lawsuits...appear to be in the course of doing normal business.”
CNNMoney: Schmidt said the YouTube acquisition “was going very well” but warned not expect any meaningful financial contribution for the foreseeable future: “There is a large advertising opportunity to be built on that traffic. But an old joke in the internet is that URL stands for Ubiquity first, Revenue Later.”
IDG: Schmidt said the Steelberg brothers weren’t expected to stay at Google: “"The founders, who are entrepreneurs, have gone off to do their next company, which is what we expected them [to do]. They’re very good and we wish them well.” (Google didn’t announce the pair’s departure last month but confirmed it when we approached them in the courser of breaking the story.) Schmidt said the company continues to use dMarc for smaller markets but is working on “larger distribution deals.” A long-anticipated deal with CBS went nowhere; not sure if he was asked about it specifically.