Margins Check: Google’s brand, TV on the Internet, and more

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the wireless industry.
–Google is the top brand in market research firm Millward Brown’s third annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ranking. Google was No. 1 last year as well. The news should give pause to those companies attempting to compete with the search engine giant, either in the mobile content field or the handset arena.
–The Fox TV network is revamping how it presents full-episode videos on its Web site. The revamped service will put online shows front and center on the home page as well as mixing them throughout the site. That’s because streaming TV shows have become the top driver of traffic to the network’s Web site. The news further serves to highlight the growing importance of online distribution in an industry once dominated by TV sets, and could foreshadow a similar trend in mobile.
–Microsoft started testing a new way of selling its Office software suite, allowing shoppers to download and install Office 2007 — including Word and Excel — and get updates for a subscription instead of the traditional one-time license fee. If successful, Microsoft may well test a similar business model in its mobile efforts.