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Google shops for classified ad providers
MUMBAI: The world’s most valuable media company Google is aggressively moving to include classifieds listings in its organic search results.
It is making the rounds of classified advertising Web sites, requesting a direct feed of listings.
In an alert sent to clients research firm Classified Intelligence has put substance to the rumour that’s been circulating for some time and discloses ongoing discussions with possible partners.
Classified Intelligence founding principal and executive editor Peter M. Zollman says, “Anytime an online giant like Google does something of this magnitude, it’s going to change the classified landscape and up the ante for everyone else in the field. It is not about threat or blessing. It’s about changing online choices, about new options for consumers, and about companies competing to provide better services to buyers and sellers. That’s got to be good for everyone.
“But Google will not find that the existing competitors – newspapers, Craigslist, and AOL just to name a few – are easily dissuaded from their hard-won audiences.”
Making classified ads available through an organic Google search will definitely change the game, but exactly how remains to be determined. There are two schools of thought. On the one hand, search provided additional distribution of the ad. On other side of that coin ads that are freely available through search could destroy the pricing model used by print and online classifieds publishers.
Classified Intelligence works with media companies, dot-coms and service providers to develop successful interactive classified advertising services. Its Classified Intelligence Report is an intelligence tool in the industry and the Classified Intelligence workshops, consultations and research projects are conducted worldwide. Clients include The New York Times, Tribune, CareerBuilder.com, AutoTrader.com, The Washington Post, and Daily Mail group of London.
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Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
