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Tuesday October 17, 2006 |
Google is on the cusp of establishing a virtual dynasty by exerting prominent
influence in the ways people access, manage, and respond to information. Could
we be witnessing the birth of a new empire?
Editor's Note: Information is the world's most vital resource
in 2k millennium, and Google seems to have a hammerlock on the aspects in which
people access and respond to that information. Personally, I'm almost in awe of
how often we use the world Google, and how we interact with the company in some
capacity almost every day. It's mind-boggling. How else do you use Google? Let
us know at WebProWorld.
If all roads lead to Rome, then all cyber pathways lead to Google.
You can't read a blog or visit a technology news site without seeing the company's name referenced at least once, if not several times, throughout an article. Just last week, media coverage of the Google acquisition of YouTube reached feverish proportions.
People just can't seem to get Google off of their minds.
In fact, the terms "Google" and "World Domination" are becoming more commonly associated together these days among bloggers and tech journalists alike.
The reality of the situation is that Google is becoming a mythical, almost omnipresent force in the online realm. The sheer scope of the company's influence inspires comparisons to the birth of a new empire.
The staple of a prominent dynasty is the ability to control access to and distribution of vital resources to the masses. The Roman Empire constructed a detailed infrastructure for travel between territories while also developing aqueduct systems within the framework of their cities.
Ultimately, this allowed Roman leaders to exert significant power by controlling access to both water and transportation.
How does this translate into the digital age? People want information; it's an invaluable resource. Whoever controls access to that information will inevitably wield tremendous power in the age to come.
Google acts as the road to information in today's realm, and collects the tolls in the form of paid search advertising.
The raw statistics don't lie; Google is responsible for 60% of all Internet searches in the United States and nearly 70% of searches throughout the UK. With similar shares of the search landscape throughout the rest of the world, one singular fact starts to become evident.
When people want information, an overwhelming majority of them look to Google to supply their needs.
Information access and distribution, however, mark only the beginning of Google's budding virtual empire.
The next logical course along the trail is to supply people with tools to manage and implement the information they find within the confines of Google's search domain. Google Trends, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and Google's tools for educators are all efforts focused on providing users with outlets for the management and application of said information.
Is Google ready to compete with Microsoft in terms of application prowess? Perhaps not, but refusing to take their efforts seriously would be a mistake of epic proportions. Steve Ballmer perhaps already sees the handwriting on the wall, according to John Battelle.
So while retrieving and interacting with information is vital, the third side of the triangle is perhaps the most important in securing public allegiance: Provide the masses with a forum to express their own ideas in response to the information they consume.
Google Video, MySpace Video and YouTube are sterling examples of a platform for the voice of the Internet public to be heard. Millions of people visit these sites on a daily basis, interacting within a virtual community committed to the free exchange of ideas and opinions.
Not coincidentally, Google now controls two out of the three major communities geared toward social expression in terms of video.
It is becoming clearer every day that information is one of the world's most precious resources; and Google is already at or very near the core of how people retrieve, manage, and respond to that information.
This may not constitute world domination in the military sense, but it could prove to be even more effective in the long run.
Is the keyboard mightier than the sword?
About
the Author:
Joe Lewis is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. |
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British
Search Less But Find More?
 By
Jason Lee Miller
Staff Writer | WebProNews
Recent numbers are showing that Google is an even heavier hitter in the United
Kingdom than in the United States. But it also appears that UK Internet users
are conducting fewer searches, and finding what they need more often.
The UK has been relatively slow to take to search engines, but the number of searches conducted is steadily growing. In August, UK Internet users conducted 16,000 searches per minute, a 4.4 percent increase over February.
That dramatic presentation of 16,000 searches per minute, or 264 per second if you prefer, is courtesy of Nielsen//NetRatings. Though it sounds like a lot, it's not quite the 141,000 or so searches per minute conducted in the US.
Though the US has five times the population of the UK, the percentages of the population using the Internet are roughly the same (66% in the US, 63% of the UK). But whereas US Internet users (total number drawn from CIA World Fact Book) are conducting over 30 searches monthly, UK Internet users are conducting under 19 searches.
That number has increased steadily over the last six months, however, rising from 676 million searches in February to 706 million in August. Interestingly, click-through rates are high in the UK, growing 18 percent over the past six months. 546 million results were clicked. We may take that to mean that 77 percent of UK searchers are finding relevant results.
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SEO or PPC?
Which is the more effective method of marketing your site? Or do you prefer to
conduct exercises in both? The differences between the two are obvious - you have
to pay for PPC marketing but with SEO, if you have the in-house knowledge, you
costs can be limited. However, what method is best for exposing your site? Perhaps
PPC because it doesn't take as long to see differences, whereas SEO can sometimes
take months before you notice any change. Which do you choose? Let us know in
WebProWorld.
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|| Chris||
The
Truth About PPC vs SEO
Playing around on the forum today I saw one of those post that you see every time
some one brings up the letters PPC. It goes something like SEO is better. I've
seen these post over and over anytime the letters PPC come up but I have to wonder
is it really better and has anyone tested it?
I believe that both SEO and PPC are important in building a marketing campaign.
But which is the most successful?
I've not done any testing myself but would like to take a look at some of the
arguments put up by the SEO guys.
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