B-toB magazine publishers are the latest group to see threat from the Google giant. At the recent annual American Business Media conference, IDG CEO Pat Kenealy advised attendees that Google should be considered a real threat to their business model citing Google’s popular and growing contextual advertising programs. One conference attendee put it bluntly, “If Google can slice and dice [information] and give highly qualified users to very targeted advertisers, then what do you need a trade publication for?”
UPDATE: Underscore Marketing’s Tom Hespos says not to worry – you can’t search until you know what you are looking for and B-to-B mags help in that area.
