Do you really want to value Google's eyeballs at more than $1.3 trillion?

John Battelle has some legitimately skeptical views on Om Malik's recent Business 2.0 article on The Return Of Monetized Eyeballs. I have to agree with John. While money is presently cheap and easy to come by, audiences aren't. And when Web sites and Web logs get bought, they often lose much of their value as a destination in the process. Imagine if GE or Disney bought Google; would it have the same cachet? Would it still be just as cool a destination or place to work? I'd bet not. Owners and companies have brands, and they have to align; if they clash, visitors leave and value declines.

Still not convinced? Well, if we accept Om Malik's valuation number of $38 per monthly visitor and the fact that Google has about 1.3 billion visitors a day worldwide, that puts Google's valuation at $1.368 trillion, more than Microsoft and GE combined. I like Google, but that seems a tad on the high side, even for a marketing guy like me.

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