Google Invests Over $100 Million Into Zynga

[Urgh76]

Our friend has become our enemy

 

[GodKlown]

I think everyone is overlooking the potential for Google to implant advertising within Zynga games in the near future. Know how you get stuck watching those fifteen to sixty second commercials everywhere because of Google Ads? Now they just want to toss that proverbial dick into games. Just to keep poking at you to buy crap that another company pays to advertise with Google.
And according to the numbers I made up for this statement, a lot of moms play the casual games on FB and also buy a lot of crap from infomercials... so I think Google sees this as a marriage of convenience rather than just a straight deposit into the "next big thing". They took a big hit when the far east didn't buy into the power of Google, and they need to make it up somewhere.

 

[V8 Ninja]

So...this is going to be the nest long-term fad? Great, I'll start packing my things and hauling them into the fallout shelter...

 

[Capo Taco]

Google are going to get a return in the short term but there not going to be making money for long.

The whole Ville thing is going to end in a few years, but they'll probably get there money back and more.

You know, there is absolutely no reason to view this as a bad deal for Google. Zynga make ridiculously embarrassing amounts of money. Secondly, Zynga's games appeal to the "I have a smartphone because it's cool" demographic. Google wants that money.

Ergo, stroke of brilliance.

Except Zynga got where they are with questionable means. Their methods may be effective, but then there are a lot of methods that are effective, but morally questionable. In the long run, I doubt it's worth it. Which is why I liked google before, because in the long run, I would expect the least problems with their offerings (such as my android phone).

If I would start getting similar spam from semi-friends on gmail/buzz/g-whatever... then I will write a very serious forum post!

 

[TimeCruiserMike]

What happened to you Google? you used to be cool.

 

[richtaur]

This is awful news for the games industry, HTML5 and corporate ethics in general ugh

 

[Danpascooch]

NO!

DAMMIT GOOGLE I TRUSTED YOU!!!

 

[Capo Taco]

a huge hit on google's credibility.

How dare Google make business investments!

I hear investing in the mob is good too.

 

[Dexiro]

Just lost a ton of respect for Google right there o_o

Not that it isn't a good investment, just the whole idea behind it. It's like investing in a scam.

 

[Roander]

a huge hit on google's credibility.

No, a huge hit on google's DIGNITY. What are they doing making deals with a morally dubious company? For fucking shame.

EXACTLY. This has really surprised me. I mean, I HATE zynga and they're dubious almost "scamming" way of earning money. How could you do this Google? T_T

By the CEO of Zynga's own admission it's not "almost scamming", it's just scamming:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96024-Zynga-CEO-Admits-to-Being-a-Scammer

I think I'm more disappointed in Google now than I was when they made their deal with China; at least then they could argue that they were compromising in order to bring a useful service to people.

 

[Capo Taco]

btw I wanted to google a little to find some people on the web who thought positively about zynga, so I tried "Zynga is awesome". Then google automatically shows some frequently searched keywords and at "Zynga is" you get in order:

"Zynga is leaving facebook"
"Zynga island paradise"
"Zynga is a scam"
"Zynga issues"

 

[Comrade Mateo]

Google are going to get a return in the short term but there not going to be making money for long.

The whole Ville thing is going to end in a few years, but they'll probably get there money back and more.

You! Your avatar sums up how I feel about this.

 

[The Random One]

What what? What happened to 'don't be evil'? Did someone append 'but it's okay to work with someone who is?'

This is the first step towards Google becoming the dark overlord of a cyberpunk dystopia future. Speaking of which, I need to nab some Deus Ex concept art for my desktop. Hello, Google Images!

 

[antigodoflife]

You fuckers... Google Brothers, you're now on my hitlist.

 

[Darth_Dude]

a huge hit on google's credibility.

No, a huge hit on google's DIGNITY. What are they doing making deals with a morally dubious company? For fucking shame.

It's all about the money, Google doesn't really care whether the Zynga is morally dubious or not, all they care about is a profit.

If all they cared about was a profit, they wouldn't give extra money to lesbian/gay couples because they can't marry. Trust me, Google cares about its appearance.

They did that? Thats.......whatever, the fact that they did this shows that its the profit they follow. Perhaps google just likes gays?