Google vs. Booble - The End, and the Beginning
Greg Jones of www.internetsexnetwork.com
and 2Much.net
 Earlier
this year, when Booble.com first launched, with its Google-parody look
and feel and naughty humour, Google immediately issued cease-and-desist
statements and went into legal threat mode.
Booble
laughed.
Google
demanded that Booble not only strip all googleness from its site, but
that it hand over the Booble.com domain name.
Even
worse, Booble made everybody laugh.
After some noise in the media and on the Internet, the two companies kept
their wrangling behind closed doors.
Approximately
six months and thousands of listings on Booble later, I noticed a design
change at Booble.com. Still nobody was saying anything.
Over
the last week of August this year, hotlinked Booble banners and buttons
were changing all over the ‘Net.
Clicking
on these and properly served links took surfers to a smooth, corporate-looking
design, based on blue tones without a hint of Google in it. Next, a new
Booble index page.
Though
the other pages at Booble still looked the same, they too had their new
faces uploaded over the following days.
What
happened? Google.com had decided it wanted the parody site yanked from
the ‘Net and the domain name shredded from our collective consciousness.
So they didn't win. Was this a Booble concession? Judging from the flagrant
feistiness of their meteoric launch on January 20th of this year, this
was unlikely.
So
Sidney Zombay put on his reporter's hat and, with surprising ease, contacted
"Bob," founder of Booble, who took the time to answer some questions.
Though
this interview took place largely via e-mail correspondence, I want to
communicate the feel of this exchange via an imaginary scenario: imagine
two incredibly handsome gents sitting in mahogany armchairs, with brandy
snifters and pipes by a fireplace in a book lined study. Let us begin:
iSN:
So what happened? Booble completely overhauls its look and keeps mum,
with no press release or announcement:
BOB:
We recently made an agreement with the fine folks at Google, the terms
of which cannot be disclosed. For this reason, there was no press release.
iSN:
So can we say Booble won, Google lost? Or vice versa?
BOB:
I can tell you two things.... First, the parody was getting kind of old.
I think we got all the mileage we could out of it. Second, the audience
has responded very well to the new design. Perhaps they were looking for
something more than a parody. Anyway, we are quite satisfied with the
outcome. Now, we can concentrate on making Booble great, and marketing
it.
iSN:
There was no pressure involved with the change?
BOB:
We (through our attorney) had a good exchange of views. While we believe,
and believed, that our parody was protected free speech, we also appreciated
that Google didn't want us making fun of them. If anything, I think we
had pressure going from our side.
iSN:
So can we say Booble and Google are friends, now?
BOB:
I really can't comment on the agreement, as I said. Friends would be putting
it strongly, but we have an agreement and open lines of communication.
iSN:
So how much bigger and better has Booble gotten since the days of Google's
cease and desist writs?
BOB:
We got a big spike when we launched. I think people were tickled by the
parody... clearly the press was. After that, frankly, traffic settled
way down, and since then we've steadily grown an audience interested in
something more than the parody.
iSN:
What were you expecting from Booble, initially?
BOB:
Booble started as a bit of a lark, mainly an "in joke" for the
staff and our friends, but it took off when the press, got wind of it.
When Booble actually started to make money, we assigned someone to it
full time. This webmaster handles the database, product development, and
marketing of the site. That being said, the site is only modestly profitable.
Really nothing, compared to our mainstream business.
iSN:
So... what now?
BOB:
We'd like to see Booble evolve into a truly useful resource, with a lot
more traffic, and therefore revenue.
iSN:
All talk of lawsuits, infringement, writs, and so on, have been dropped?
BOB:
I really can't say anything about the terms of the agreement. We are happy
to go forward with our website and business without the distraction of
fighting.
iSN:
Now that Booble's look is more serious and businesslike, does that mean
your approach will be changing? Will you turn to a Booble-bot or spider
for indexing, rather than wait for webmasters to submit?
BOB:
No spiders. Everything is listed and indexed by hand. We offer free listings
to webmasters, and since our site is highly rated by search engines, there
are SEO benefits to sites we list.
iSN:
I want to thank you for your time and answers, and for keeping the boobs
in Booble.
BOB:
Sure.
About Greg Jones
Greg Jones is in charge of Media & Communications at 2much.net
and webmaster of iNternetSexNetwork.com. He has worked as script doctor,
written fiction and freelanced as a journalist. His interviews have ranged
from Jerry Garcia to Buck Houghton (producer of the original Twilight
Zone), his articles from travel to gastronomy.
Jones started at 2much as videographer and quickly assumed the role of press
liaison, SEO and New Webmaster consultant, and is currently in the stages
of experimenting white-hat techniques to stimulate traffic without spending
a lot of money.
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