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Google in search of friends

14.03.07 |

The FT  reports that Viacom’s lawsuit filed against Google is a step backwards for the search engine in what has become its most important strategic initiative: to forge alliances in the media industry so that it can draw more professionally produced media content.

Viacom maintains that YouTube is clearly acting like a full-fledged media company: it loads videos onto its own website, "publicly performs" it by streaming it to users, and stamps its own brand and advertising around the material. "So far, its attempts to win over the media companies by arguing it has their best interests at heart have hit a number of roadblocks. One of the biggest has been Google’s inability to offer media owners a foolproof way of blocking users from uploading unauthorised content to its site."

• Google