Thomson acquires Hildebrandt: will the conquest improve their content?

Yesterday (1/18/05), Thomson Legal and Regulatory (the largest market group within The Thomson Corporation) announced that it will acquire Hildebrandt International, a legal consulting  services firm.

For those of you who haven't been paying attention. all companies involved in the legal services sector will one day be owned either by Thomson or Lexis (which is owned by Reed Elsevier, Inc.). Although I am usually an ornery and scrappy old curmudgeon, I'd lake to make it very clear that these are both very excellent companies with sterling reputations whose services are essential to the smooth and efficient running of hundreds of firms, thousands of lawyers and millions of legal clients in the US and around the world.

Those of you who have continued this far are, of course, my most loyal readers and know that I am hoping, desperately, myself, to be acquired by either Thomson or Lexis. Frankly, I'd rather be acquired by EA Games, Disney, Apple, Smuckers, Hasbro or Victoria's Secret. But I'm not in any of those industries, so that's really a long shot.

Is it a long shot that I'd be acquired by Thomson or Lexis?

Go to Google. Yeah, open another browser and do it right now, please. Do a search on the term, "legal marketing." As of right now (1/19/2005, 10:58pm EST), this blog rates #8 on the Google search results. Why? About 20% because I update it fairly regularly. About 80% because enough people in the industry enjoy what I write enough that they link back to the dang thing.

I'm not saying this to brag; I'm saying this to explain a relatively new and important marketing principle to you. In the Age of Content (which is where we are now; we were in the Information Age until about 2001), attention will flow to where the content is. Attention used to flow to where the money was. You paid your million bucks and people watched. Not any more.

The first time you hit anything having to do with Lexis on that Google search for "legal marketing" is on the 5th page of results. I think it was result #47 or something.

So. Andy Havens. All on his lonesome. Blogging away. Snags a first page slot on a pretty nifty Google search term like "legal marketing."

Lexis. One of the two largest legal service companies in the world. Page 5.

I don't know where Thomson or Hildebrandt show up. I stopped looking after page 10. As a side-note, I understand that most Google users never go beyond page two of their searches.

Again... not bragging. Making a point. Concentrate on your content, not your conquests.

[PS: I'd be a cheap acquisition guys, really. No major outstanding bills besides a few credit cards. And I've got my own theme song.]