Marketing In The Age Of Google (Soapbox Article) 
Copyright © 2007 Titus Hoskins


Forget the Computer Age or the Internet Age, centuries 
from now our current time will probably be referred to 
as the Google Age. This assumption is not exactly a great 
leap of faith; Google has quickly permeated into mainstream 
culture to become an underlying factor of everyday life,
a tightly woven backdrop to our lives.   

But never make the mistake of trying to define Google 
as just a search engine or you will miss the true calling 
of this little "Backrub", which was the original name used 
by its founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1996.    

Google as we now know it debuted in 1998. The name Google 
is a twist on the word Googol, a number represented as 1 
followed by 100 zeros. After everything is said and done, 
it will more than likely refer to Google's net worth -
monetary or otherwise.

But forget search engine, for regardless of the founders' 
intentions or company's objectives, Google is and has always 
been the ultimate marketing machine. A massive marketing 
machine that is just now gearing up and aiming for more 
and more lofty heights. These heights seem to increase 
each day as Google quietly rolls out program after program.

All noble ambitions aside, Google is the perfect marketing 
machine. Google has no equals, and it is very close to getting 
a stranglehold on the real power behind all marketing, which 
is information.    

Marketing is information. Information is marketing.    

Great marketing is supplying the right information at the 
right time. Google more than any other entity on the web 
or in the world, for that matter, fulfills this criterion 
at its very core. Google is re-writing the book on how 
products are marketed.

Google now has over 60% of the search traffic in the U.S., 
with a staggering 7.3 billion monthly searches. In some countries 
Google's search share is 80% or more. (Source: comScore) Those 
webmasters who have number one keyword listings in all three 
of the major search engines will know Google is the only game 
worth playing because it delivers by far the most traffic.

While MSN and Yahoo! are still major players and are listed 
in the top 5 traffic sites on the web, what most people don't 
realize is that (unlike the other two) almost all of Google's 
traffic is search traffic. From a marketing perspective this 
is extremely important since search traffic can deliver the 
highest conversions (sales) mainly because it lets you capture 
the potential customer or client when they are in the right 
mindset to buy or to perform an action.    

Obviously the key to successful marketing is finding the 
buyers and clients for your products and services. Google 
has forged itself as the ultimate "middleman" as more and 
more of the world's business is performed in cyberspace. 
And as everyone knows the "middleman" can reap huge 
profits and hold enormous power.

Google, within its Adsense program, now offers CPA or Cost 
Per Action where marketers can now receive larger returns 
for displaying Google's links on their webpages. As any 
professional marketer will tell you, you can get 10 times 
the revenue by promoting affiliate products rather than the 
Adsense code on your sites. But by adding CPA and other 
affiliate products within the Adsense program, Google has 
made it more attractive to serious online marketers.

Another step in that same direction is Google's acquisition 
of DoubleClick, which includes the massive online affiliate
marketing network Performics. This means Google can now 
bring any customer full-circle from initial search to checkout. 

This may have dire consequences for large, lucrative third-party 
affiliate networks like Commission Junction and LinkShare. 
Online marketing and ecommerce is growing at a blistering rate, 
and the company that controls the majority of these transactions 
will wield enormous power. Will make the Medici look like paupers.

Those marketers who have managed to acquire number one 
listings for their targeted keywords in Google's organic 
search are smiling all the way to the bank. Mainly because 
Google commands enormous trust with the surfing/buying public 
and this is demonstrated through higher conversion rates. 
Likewise, those who have mastered the Adsense and Adwords 
programs will know Google is an excellent source of online 
income. 

Most of the complaints against Google stems from its PageRank 
system, which is supposed to be Google's version of online 
democracy in action, a link is a vote for your page or content. 
The higher the number of links, the higher your page will be 
ranked in Google's index or SERPs - Search Engine Results Pages.

So far Google has played fair, giving even the smallest webmaster 
the opportunity to capture top Google listings if they produce 
superior or popular content to the surfer. Some would even argue 
Google's recent crackdown on sites offering paid-links can be 
seen as evening the playing field for the small webmaster or 
marketer who obviously doesn't have the economic clout or 
resources to buy their way to the top of Google's listings. 

Keyword rankings may be the ultimate equalizer and determiner 
of online wealth. Those who can reach the top positions for 
their chosen profitable niche keywords will have companies 
and service providers lining up to do business with them. 
The fallout can prove extremely lucrative for both parties. 

However, few marketers or webmasters forget who is really 
holding the cards; Google controls all steps along this 
marketing tunnel with its search listings, Adwords and 
Adsense programs. The only dark spot on the horizon could 
be monopoly issues, but Google probably has enough reservoirs 
of public goodwill and deep enough corporate pockets to squash 
any claims.  

As Google's dominance in the search market becomes 
greater, Google will have control of all segments of 
the online marketplace. Why should Google stop there, 
why not go into Radio, TV... as the Internet gradually 
mutates into a billion+ interactive TV channel universe 
(as many believe it will) who do you think will be at 
control central offering you a nice free remote?

Then there is also Google's planned broadband 700 MHz bid; 
one can only speculate on Google's intentions. But Google 
must find a way to transmit its information at no cost to 
its users. Could it mean free wireless Internet for everyone 
on free Google boxes or gadgets of some form, usable and 
accessible anywhere in the world? Anything is possible because 
the stakes are so astronomical and the marketing revenue so 
vast, Google must get its information seamlessly and instantly 
to the end user at all costs. 

One can only guess at the enormity of the marketing power 
Google will yield in coming years as the Internet slips 
out of its teen years. But it won't be just marketing, 
the influence of Google on all aspects of our lives will 
probably grow exponentially and that influence will be huge. 

For the true power of Google is only just now beginning to 
be glimpsed; only as more and more of the Google pieces 
fall into place will we truly fathom what life will be 
like in the Google Age. Google's power, reverence and 
respect will no doubt be so enormous it may lead some 
to make comparisons to a higher power that has guided 
most of the life on this planet so far. Which could also 
lead one to muse, at least they got the first two letters 
correct.   



...    
The author, a former artist and teacher, is now a full-time 
online marketer who has numerous websites, including two sites 
on Internet marketing. For the latest web marketing tools try: 
Internet Marketing Tools or Marketing Tool Guide 
Copyright © 2008 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed 
if this resource box stays attached. 


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