1. Publishing for the Google
Generation
Vikram Savkar
Nature Publishing Group

2. There are underlying differences
between how the google generation
thinks about content and how previous
generations have thought about
content.

3. Three Drivers of Change
• Search engines
• Crowd-sourced content
• Free information

4. The shift in the information landscape
has resulted in a profoundly changed
mindset.

5. The New Mindset
• Search engines
Parallel rather than
• Crowd-sourced structured access
content
• Free information Punchy rather than
sustained

6. The New Mindset
• Search engines
Convenience
• Crowd-sourced
content
• Free information

7. The New Mindset
• Search engines
• Crowd-sourced
content Free
• Free information

8. Successful Publishing
• Parallel access
• Punchy and need-oriented
• Convenient
• Affordable

9. Caveat
The ‘Google Generation’ is not a
monolith

10. Modern Publishing Success
Stories

11. Facebook
Turned students
into publishers

12. YouTube and Twitter
Made
information short
and punchy

13. E-mail / IM
Added
social
velocity to
information

14. More Traditional Publishers
Making Progress

15. Academic Earth

16. Wiley Plus

17. Nature Publishing Group
www.nature.com/scitable

18. Notes on Rising to the Challenge
• Google generation is more in the driver seat than ever
before
• Google generation is hypercritical of insincerity
• Google generation has the same goals, but values different
tools
• By the time they care about scholarly publishing, they won’t
quite be the ‘Google generation’

19. Specifics
• Content is king . . . Protect it
• Don’t repurpose, reconceive
• Partner . . . There is strength in numbers
• Hire young people
• Build management expertise in
evolution