In the Introduction of Google For Dummies I wrote, “There has never been an Internet phenomenon like Google.” The book you’re holding now doubles the truth of that statement, revealing and illuminating the hidden half of Google. Taken together, Google’s front end (the consumer search engine) and back end (the business services) make up an online juggernaut arguably more significant to online society than eBay, Amazon.com, or Yahoo! right now. And Google’s momentum as a revenue-generating media company is just starting to pick up speed. Until recently, Google’s radical impact on Internet citizenry, and society generally, was focused on the consumer experience of searching. The quality of that experience was established in a revolutionary triple whammy (whammy being the technical term):
- The clutter-free home page. In crisp contrast to the ad-clotted and frantically informational Web portals that previous search engines had morphed into, Google’s spare appearance is exhilarating in its announcement that search — pure Search, with a capital S — was back, and back hard.
- The quality of results. This factor, of course, built Google’s fame and planted “Googling” in the global lexicon. Does Google read your mind? Or do the uncanny results derive from groundbreaking technology? Well, it’s the latter. But those who prefer imagining that they have a telepathic relationship with Google should go for the fantasy with gusto.
- The speed of results. Lightning-quick results have pushed Google into the little cracks in everyone’s work day. People Google because the engine matches speed with the online lifestyle. Google never thinks of itself as the destination; hence, it is the most important destination. (Ahh . . . Zen insight.)
Google’s unprecedented performance is underlined by its much-publicized traffic statistics: more than 200 million searches each day and more than 55 billion searches per year, servicing at least 50 percent of all search queries. Approximate and changeable as these metrics are, they emphasize the impressive command Google has established in the consumer searching arena. But Google has another side — and another personality. Behind the scene of any simple search lies a frenzy of competition and a wealth of opportunity. Web sites wrestle with each other and with Google for position on the search results page. Advertisers bid for attention-getting placement on that same page. Other sites all over the Web vie for the privilege of showing Google ads. The quests for visibility and traffic — the twin imperatives of online marketing — are played out against the world’s most important search engine. To the people who start this chain reaction by typing keywords into the search box, Google is about searching the Web. To Webmasters, entrepreneurs, and marketing executives, Google is about being found. The latter group populates the world of Google business services.
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