Penenberg on WSJ and Search Engines

Adam Penenberg argues that the Wall Street Journal eventually will become irrelevant because its subscription model (1) makes its content invisible to the search engines, and (2) prevents bloggers from linking to it. I think he’s right. Our assessments of branding are increasingly becoming measured by online buzz and by having the brand reinforced by good Google placement. If the WSJ gets neither, over time this will degrade the brand; at minimum, it will allow others to build strong competitive brands using the buzz/search engine methodology.