Random Culture

Google Checkout Video

Google has officially launched Google Checkout. Watch the video below to get the lowdown on how it works.

X-Men + Google Maps Mashup

As a promotion for the upcoming X-Men movie, they've released a pretty cool Google Maps mashup. You can find it at: Xplanet.net. On the site, visitors can register themselves as mutants and create a profile based on their location. Other visitors can then browse these profiles using a Google Maps interface.

Google Launching Click to Play Video Ads

Google has announced that it's rolling out "click-to-play" video ads for AdWords. If you doubted it before, you can't question anymore that we're in a video boom right now. As with the other image and flash based ads, advertisers can pay on a CPC or CPM basis, and site targeting is available.

What Google's touting as an advantage is the "click-to-play" aspect of the user experience. These videos will not begin playing automatically, rather they will rely on users to initiate the video experience. After that initial click, any other click on the unit takes you to the advertiser website. Keep your eye on this one.

Read it all on the official Google "Inside AdWords" blog.

Another Google Movie Promotion

The recent Da Vinci Code Quest on Google marked one of the first times Google "teamed up" with an advertiser outside of search or contextual ads. Google also recently teamed up with Nike to create the Joga.com soccer community. I speculated about whether we'd see more of this in the future, and I was wrong. Google is definitely pursuing more of these relationships, and seems to be developing a "thing" for Hollywood.

In this latest promotion, Google has teamed up with The Breakup. On the Google Video site, you can upload your own "breakup" video and get it featured on Google Video, or on the Google Video Blog.

Link via Micropersuasion.

Google Trends Launches!

Google has launched a pretty cool new product called "Google Trends." The service allows you to compare multiple search terms against one another in terms of search volume.

Check out this sample trend search. In your face television advertising!

Link via TechCrunch.

Google Promoting DaVinci Code

In an unprecedented move, Google has teamed up with Sony Pictures to promote the upcoming DaVinci Code movie. The promotion involves adding a DaVinci Code widget to your personalized Google homepage, where players are prompted to solve a series of puzzles. Start playing the game here.

According to the official Google Blog, the puzzles will "be released over the next 24 days, in the form of six different challenges at four difficulty levels."

And there are some pretty good prizes as well, including a $100,000 grand prize package that includes a trip to Paris, Rome and London.

This is a really big deal... Google has traditionally shied away from giving advertisers any outlets beyond Adwords. So are we likely to see more promotions like this? I'm not sure that we will. This particular promotion seems to stem more out of a passion for the material than anything else. But who knows?

Nielsen Netratings Blunderfest 2006

I swung by iMedia Connection today, and saw a headline for a story that made my jaw drop. Underneath the headline "Yahoo! Outnumbers Google" was the statement "Despite Google's reputation, Yahoo! ranks as top search engine." Um... what is Nielsen Netratings smoking?

This statement is completely and utterly false. The numbers Nielsen is basing this statement on are numbers not just for search engines, but portals and communication destinations as well. Sure, Yahoo! may be the top portal, but that doesn't mean it's the top search engine.

This is a REALLY irresponsible statement for Nielsen to make, and I hope they correct it right away. The fact is, Google is by far the top search engine, and that's not up for debate. In fact, Nielsen's own search data from November of 2005 shows Google's search engine market share at 46.3%, and Yahoo! at only 23%. For Nielsen's statement to be true, Yahoo! would have had to steal half of Google's market share in a mere matter of months. Yeah, right.

How anyone at Nielsen or iMedia Connection could allow this slip-up is beyond me.

Google Launches "Related Links"

Google has launched a new "service" that seems a little strange to me. It's called "Related Links", and it allows website publishers the ability to display news, searches and other websites that are related to the content on their own sites. I've included an example below.

So why would anyone implement this on their site? That's what some people have been asking. There's no financial incentive, so publishers are basically just sending traffic away from their sites. Google's position is that the service leverages the power of Google to "automatically bring fresh, dynamic and interesting content links to any website."

But as publishers, we'd really like it if we could get paid for clicks on these!

Gawker Google Mashup

Gawker has launched a great Google Maps mashup, the "Gawker Stalker." It's essentially a feature on Gawker.com that allows visitors to submit celebrity sightings in Manhattan, which are then added by Gawker staff to a Google map.

It's a great example of yet another company leveraging Google's API for Google maps. Remember, if you're interested, it's open to anyone... with a few commercial restrictions.

Link via Blogebrity.

Reminder: Google Grants

If you're a non-profit, or have a non-profit as a client, you should remember that Google Grants is out there. Google Grants is a program that allows selected non-profits to get free Google AdWords. Check out more details about the program here, and apply. Just a helpful reminder that this is a great opportunity for any non-profit.

Google AdWords Demographic Targeting

Google has now launched the ability for advertisers to use demographic targeting. According to the AdWords Help Center, those demographics include factors such as income and gender. John Battelle says that Google is tapping into ComScore/Media Metrix to get this data. Surely we'll be hearing more about this in the coming weeks.

This is great news for Google, and even better news for advertisers.

Google Page Creator

Google clearly wants to be everything to everyone... They've now released "Google Page Creator", an online web page creation and hosting tool, available at: pages.google.com. (you may experience some technical issues)

On the site they declare that you no longer have to hire a design firm! Well, that's true... if you don't mind having an awful, generic-looking website.

It's free and it's all online, with no software to download. That's great. But this clearly shouldn't be recommended for anything except personal web pages. And what's Google's strategy here? It's not integrated with Blogger, or anything else for that matter...

Read more about it at TechCrunch.

Super Bowl Commercials & Search

One of the things I was most impressed about the Super Bowl this year is how many advertisers were including search engine advertising as a part of their Super Bowl promotions. We all know that after the Super Bowl, people go to search engines to try and find the ads they missed, or the ads their friends are talking about. Running search engine ads is essential to connect with these people.

Last year, we were applauding just a few advertisers for doing it, but this year, the search engine ads are running in full force to accompany Super Bowl commercials.

Here's a short list of the folks I noticed running Super Bowl specific search engine ads on Google:

• Honda
• Cadillac (they were doing it last year)
• Mission Impossible
• Career Builder (they were doing it last year)
• Prudential
• Nationwide
• Ameriquest
• Sprint

Now, I have to dog on Sprint just for a little bit. The weird thing about Sprint is that their search engine ads are directing people to SprintEnterprise.com. Say what? You can't access any of the commercials by visiting Sprint.com, but for some reason they're all on SprintEnterprise.com? Come on Sprint, get your act together.

Google China Censorship

If you want to see a tangible example of Google's censorship in China, you don't need to look any further than the following example:

An image search on Google China for "tiananmen":
View Results

An image search on Google US for "tiananmen":
View Results

Google Testing Rich Media Ads

According to JenSense, a great blog about contextual advertising, Google is conducting a limited rich media test, including interstitials, floating and expandable ad units. There are still many details that unclear as to the specifics of the test.

But JenSense brings up something very important to think about:

"if AdSense did offer rich media to all publishers, they could easily add a new clause that would mean companies such as Fastclick and PointRoll would suddenly be competitive ads and not be permitted on the same pages as AdSense."

I think this is probably a good guess, since Google's already established a track record in this area.

More on GM & Google

I thought I'd elaborate a little on GM's recent use of Google in their TV ads. It's an interesting position to take. Surely, they get some brand cred by associating themselves with Google, but what are the other impacts? First, watch the ad here, and then I have a few thoughts on it.

Here are some issues to think about:

1. Search Engine Ad Mandate
   Yes, since GM makes the proclamation that all you need to do is search for "Pontiac" on Google, then GM has to make sure they're always running a PPC search ad at the #1 position on Google. Now, they already have the #1 natural listing, but because there are no guarantees in natural search, they have to always be #1 on every search for "Pontiac" on Google. It's worth noting that GM is running PPC search ads for the "Pontiac" query right now.
   
2. Paying for Free Traffic?
   Someone could surely argue that because they're referring folks to Google, and some of those folks are clicking on PPC search engine ads, they are paying for traffic to their site that would have otherwise been free. Sure... some, but there's not much of a way to track it.
3. The Google Risk?
   Consider the following scenario... Someone who hates Pontiac Google-bombs the query "Pontiac", and now in the top 10 results on that search, there's a listing for Pontiacsucks.com. In this scenario, their direction of folks to Google might not be such a good brand play.

I'm just thinking out loud about this, but these are definitely things any company thinking of following suit should think about.

Update: It looks like Mazda has fulfilled the risk above. They've been running a PPC search engine ad on Google touting a comparison between the Pontiac Solstice and the Miata! Thanks to Paul for the heads up.

Run Print Ads Using Google

Not so new, but noteworthy if you missed it... Google is running ads similar to those in its search results in The Chicago Sun-Times. They appear in the right-hand column on some pages, and look similar to classified ads. According to an article in Chicago Business, Google is buying what's referred to as "remnant space" in the paper, as a part of a discreet test.

2005 Google Zeitgeist

The 2005 Google Zeitgeist has been released! In it, Google highlights some of the significant events, celebrities and technologies that shaped 2005, from the perspective of people's search behavior. Always an interesting read.

Google and AOL Sitting in a Tree

I'm pretty discouraged by the news that Google, as a part of their deal with AOL, is giving favored placement to AOL content. This runs pretty much counter to the brand promise of integrity that we've known for so long about Google. The NY Times has more on the subject, and so does John Battelle.

Everyone speculated that the IPO would change Google, and it looks like maybe it has.

Link via Threadwatch.

Google Launches 2 Blogs

Google has launched 2 new official blogs... One for Google Talk, and one for Google Base.

Link via Micropersuasion.

Google (Free)Base

The official announcement of Google Base wasn't anything new... there have been rumors going around for several weeks about the service. So Google has finally entered the classified space, and this will surely make waves. I'm sure there are already people hiding under their desks at newspapers across the US.

So what industry can Google scare next? How about the record industry... they need some payback.

And I can't wait to start seeing people spamming the Google Base index... we'll call this "freebasing."

Bad Business at Google

Apparently, not everyone was happy with the launch of Google Analytics. We know other analytic companies were pissed, but what about existing Urchin customers?

Ethan Stock, the chief executive for Zvents, a silicon valley startup and existing Urchin customer, shares his story. It's pretty clear to me that Google didn't handle these existing customers very well at all. I'd be hopping mad if I was an existing Urchin customer.

Link via Silicon Beat.

Google Analytics (insert evil laugh)

Yes, it seems that Google really does want to take over the world. Actually, I'm pretty psyched about Google's announcement that they've launched "Google Analytics." It's basically the aftermath of their Urchin acquisition earlier this year. This space has started to boom, particularly with the explosion of the blogosphere. Right now, there are a few free web analytic packages out there, and the hope is that this one is a little more robust... Sitemeter and Statcounter, along with Webtrends and the rest, must be shaking in their boots.

Right now, it looks like the service is getting slammed. I've had problems trying to get past a few of the registration steps.

Link via Jupiter Analyst Eric Peterson's blog.

Google Song Beta

Just when you thought Google was cool... They release a song to announce the launch of Google Local Mobile. You can listen to the song on the official Google blog.

And oh yes... they aren't the first. You may remember these hits as well:

1.) Sun Microsystems: "The Power of Sun"
Close your ears... this is a Huey Lewis cover. I'm not kidding.

2.) Ericsson: "Wap Rap"
This was before Sony made them cooler. So forgive them.

3.) KPMG: "Power of One"
I hope they don't take themselves that seriously. But sadly, they do.

Now I understand that Google is probably trying to be funny with this song. But this is downright creepy. And frankly, it's dorky in the "bad" way.

Want more corporate aural abuse? Visit ZDNet's IT Anthems... It's where I discovered the gems above.

Google Talk

Who isn't talking about Google Talk today? I thought I should at least throw in my 2 cents about it. Overall, it's a nice and simple application. However, it is lacking a ton of the features that we've gotten used to in the instant messaging world. Is there the ability on Google Talk to add people to conversations? I couldn't find it. What about all the other customizations like adding photos to your profiles, emoticons and the like? It also appears that when you receive an IM and the window is minimized, it still pops up in the lower right-hand side... What if you don't want that to happen?

In short, it feels like this may have been released ahead of it's time. And although the simplicity is nice, I'm not sure on the feature side it really measures up to the other messenger offerings out there.

Google Scrooge Beta

Google's gonna lose some serious points with its users.

Clickz has an article about Google testing the integration of commercial results into its natural search listings. You can see the tests by doing a search for "on demand."

This is a pretty major shift for Google. Google's treatment of natural search results as "sacred ground" was one of the things that made them different, more honest than their competitors.

I guess that sweet sweet advertising revenue is enough to make a company do just about anything.

Google Adsense Blog

Google has launched an official "Inside Adsense" blog, on the Blogger platform, of course. You can find the Adsense blog at: http://adsense.blogspot.com.

The launch happens on the heels of an Adwords blog that was launched recently.

Can't Find on Google?

Having trouble finding something on Google? Well, you're not alone. Check out cantfindongoogle.com, a site dedicated to documenting failed searches on the world's most comprehensive search engine.

Predicting Google's Future

That's right... you can predict Google's future. Search Engine Watch has posted a list of domains registered by Google since June 1, 2005. As SEW points out, "In some cases, a company will register a domain(s) to simply keep it out of circulation. However, new domain registrations can sometimes provide early notice of new services and tools."

Sometimes... you don't need a crystal ball to see the future.

Google Sitemaps Beta

Google has launched a new program called "Google Sitemaps." According to the site:

"Google Sitemaps is an experiment in web crawling. Using Sitemaps to inform and direct our crawlers, we hope to expand our coverage of the web and improve the time to inclusion in our index. By placing a Sitemap-formatted file on your webserver, you enable our crawlers to find out what pages are present and which have recently changed, and to crawl your site accordingly."

It looks fairly easy to do, and they include a sitemap generator to help you format the correct XML document. I'll be tinkering around with it this weekend... Hopefully this will solve some of the problems marketers and publishers have had with organic search, particularly with Google.

Link via Lifehacker

Google Portal Launching

John Battelle has the scoop that a "My Google" product is launching today. This will essentially be a portal similar to "My Yahoo", where users will have access to things like news, Gmail, etc...

I'll have more on this story as it develops.

Update: The personalized Google has launched. It allows a little customization, but not much. You're limited to a couple news sources like Wired, Slashdot, NY Times, etc... This seems like a baby step in customization. In addition, the layout of the information within the standard Google homepage feels a little weird to me.

Google Allowed Into China

This is HUGE news. Google has been granted access to enter China.

Why is the HUGE? Well, simply because China is huge. It will eventually represent the largest online population of any country in the world. It's already surpassing the US in many ways... it's the world's largest beer market by volume.

But think about how much ad revenue this means for Google... HUGE.

Link via SiliconBeat.

Guess the Google

Remember Google Montage? Well the creator of that recent goodness, Grant Robinson, has created a highly addictive game using Google search results, called Guess-the-Google. It shows you results from Google Image searches, and you have to guess the keyword used for the search.

Google Search Results Redirection?

I just noticed this now, and I'm pretty sure this wasn't happening before but I might be mistaken.

It appears that Google search results are now being linked to an intermediate script that transparently redirects the user to the requested site.  What is happening in this script, who knows.  They're probably keeping track of clicks though.  I've noticed them using this technique in Blogger.

You can see this more apparently if you execute the Google search using Firefox.  Put your mouse over the links and see what appears in the browser's status bar.

Google: Search History

Yesterday, Google Labs launched "My Search History." It allows you to access your search history online, from any computer... Provided you have a Google account. Charlene Li's blog has a great overview of this new offering, as well as a comparison with Yahoo's search personalization efforts.

Also, check out the Google Group set up for it.

Customized Google News

CNET points to the recent addition of customization to the Google News layout.

No big deal... plenty of "news" sites let their users customize the interface. The difference is that this is a search engine. Google lets you diplay "custom" news sections that pull top stories based on a keyword query.

A great practical example of those custom news sections: I make a custom news section for each of my clients to monitor mentions of their brand name in news coverage, and let them know when someone's talking about them.

Eyetracking for Search

Seth Godin posts about the results of a new eyetracking study on Google search results from Enquiro. It basically reinforces what we've known, that top organic rankings are key. What's more, though, this study shows that being above the fold and in organic rankings is the absolute best scenario.

I wonder if being above the fold on the second page of search results (11-14) is better than being below the fold on the first (1-3)?

Original link via Search Engine Watch.

Google Weather

Why go to the trouble of visiting a "weather" site, when you're already at a search engine that's supposed to answer all of your questions. Including: "What's the weather like in Los Angeles for the next few days?"

Go to Google and type in "weather los angeles, ca"

Link via Boing Boing.

Google Policy: "Be Evil"

So much for Google's "don't be evil" policy... They've fired Mark Jen, and it was related to his blog. This has been confirmed by Jeremy Zawodny. Jeremy has a great post about the incident, and explains the difference between Google's handling of company bloggers and Yahoo.

I thought Google was supposed to understand blogging... It's now apparent that they do not.

Google Maps Beta

Google has released their online mapping beta.

This is an improvement over other online mapping tools by leaps and bounds.

Google 2004 Zeitgeist

The Google 2004 year end Zeitgeist is out... And as an article in Clickz today points out, it's one of the first to include information on local search.

New Beta: Google Suggest

Google has launched a new beta search called "Google Suggest."

It essentially offers suggestions as you type your query.