It's sunny, it's hot - but what about the flooding?

Why is such simple information, when available online, not available to the Estate Agents? Or is it simply professionalism that they "can not" gain this information? I have just got off the phone to one agent, and her answer was: "I have never been asked that question before. Any way, they are new houses - so they are bound to be OK!"

Ha: right in the middle of a Grade2 flood risk zone, rated by the UK Environment Agency as: "Flooding from rivers or sea without defences." When the Association of British Insurers are asking the government to commit more money to defences and plans, why are Builders and Estate Agents selling houses in risk zones with no defences?

When it's probably the most expensive thing you will buy in your life - should these Agents be at least aware if not also professional?

Content ownership versus Information ownership

As has been predicted, the Premiership/World Series battle between the content owners and the information distributors is now on us. With Yahoo! in so much trouble, Rupert Murdoch is considering chucking Yahoo! MySpace and $12Bn dollars for a 25% stake, there by taking the fight direct to Google.

Google versus Yahoo! was an unfair fight. Google versus NewsCorp looks like the Ali/Foreman "rumble in the jungle." Who will win?

I remember a chat with a friend who is an IT/Telco consultant strategist a few years ago about the new world...

To the left of the A4 sheet were the content and application providers - Sony, Universal, Disney/ABC, the BBC, etc.

In the middle were the distributors - ATT, Deutsche Telcom, Google, Yahoo

To the right were the devices - from a simple 2G text mobile down to a 100inch plasma backed with a PC

And he said to me - "None of these guys will control the new world Ian - the guy who controls the billing will!" And then he wrote three groups of names - HP/IBM, Visa/MasterCard - and NewsCorp.

Google don't charge you or I at present for content - we go there because its free, but all have complained in the last few years that SEOing is more difficult because the revenues are wholly dependent on advertising revenues: bit like the ITV model in the UK. And guess who's sent them into an advertising crash dive, with a service we pay a premium for which still has adverts? And who did the same in Asia?

My view is that Google's brand and model has further to go than NewsCorps in revenue exploitation from the customer. Accepted that Google is more internet savvy, but NewsCorp has a vacuum willingly attached to your wallet.