Jason Calacanis is Forgetful about Yahoo and Google

...at least on the subjects of Yahoo's entry into the content business and Google's supposed promise to never be in the content business. Jason's suggesting a boycott of Yahoo's YPN ad network over today's announcement of Yahoo's new women's portal, Shine, which I first read about on TechCrunch earlier today. As Jason puts it:

Isn't the point of the Yahoo Publisher Network to support and grow publishers and newspapers!??! What next a consumer electronics site to compete with Engadget and Gizmodo, or a sports site to compete with ESPN and Sportsline? A gossip site to compete with PerezHIlton and Gawker?

Jason seemingly forgets Yahoo has been competing in these areas for awhile, with a number of tech blogs, the Yahoo Sports Blog, and celebrity gossip site omg!.

And to the point that Google will never be in the content business, the Knol announcement in December 2007 seems to negate that idea. While it's not live yet, Google yields over 1 million results on the topic, which makes it hard to believe Jason has forgotten it already.

I find it a big so-what that Yahoo is double-dipping from both the content and advertising side of the fence. They've been a content company for ages, as a top destination for both news and finance, it seems nature they'd expand on that success. I voted with my wallet on YPN ages ago when I found the payouts to be dramatically lower than several other ad network options (including Google Adsense).

In my mind, a Yahoo with solid offerings from both sides of the game is better for content publishers like Gawker, Gear Live Media, or even a Conde Nast or small newspaper conglomerate, because it makes them a viable company for buying out smaller content players with a track record for being able to monetize them. So if the content guys want out, Yahoo might be a likely candidate for writing the check.