I keep hearing the comment, “Google is taking over the world”, but is there any truth to this statement? According to the latest data from Hitwise, an online competitive intelligence service, Google is “accounting for 68% of searches in the US and 87% of searches in the UK. Everyone knows Google is the search leader king of the internet. So, why would they say “Google is taking over the world?”

People could be saying this because Google is branching out by offering traditional advertising through the internet. Are you surprised? Google now offers print, radio and TV advertising via their online interface. How? The same way they do search marketing- through a bid auction.

In order to bid for space in a newspaper, an advertiser would select the typical newspaper options (size, color, run dates, section of the paper) and then they would place a bid. The newspaper evaluates your bid and then decides to accept, decline or counteroffer. Once the newspaper accepts the bid, an advertiser can upload their pdf to the Google site and have their ad placed in the paper. Are you curious about radio and TV? I thought so.

Radio and TV also work on the bid auction format, but a little bit different. For radio and TV you select the type of stations, (you can only advertise on certain cable stations for TV), the days you want them to air, the times, the amount you’re willing to pay along with a few other details, and Google will tell you how many impressions you’ll get for the amount you bid. Once you settle on the bid amount, you’ll be on your way to broadcasting your advertisement(s). Does this mean Google is taking over the world?

Not yet. They currently, don’t reach all advertising market areas, but I’m sure that will change in the future. Google is actively branching out in the traditional advertising space and encouraging businesses and marketers to link their search ads with their traditional advertising, which is definitely a plus from a cohesiveness standpoint. Businesses that advertise in the traditional advertising space and on the internet should work with their internet advertising agency to link their online marketing efforts with their offline efforts. In fact, your internet agency could do it all through Google and possibly get you a better rate. Google may not be taking over the world, but they are definitely making themselves a dominating presence in the world of advertising.

Visiting my parents always opens my eyes to how other generations use the Internet. My parents, being in their 70′s, take pride in being able to do their own research via the search engines – so much pride they always show me their amazing findings and superb deals!

We gathered around their computer the other day as my father typed “european vacations” in the Google search bar. In the sponsored section, my father found his favorite site for booking vacations. But before he clicked their ad, he noticed underneath the paid ads (he now knows sponsored = paid) read “4 results stored on your computer”. So my father decides to click that instead and my mother’s mouth immediately dropped open as it led them to a document that was previously stored on their computer due to my mother’s own personal research.

“Why did Google find my documents?”  I saw the Google Desktop Icon next to those results and soon realized that my parents must have installed Google Desktop with one of their last program updates. I briefly explained what Google Desktop is and my mother became very nervous, thinking that anyone online searching for “european vacation” would have access to the documents on her computer. And, she continued questioning the fact that if Google had access to documents, would they also have access to her credit card numbers because she does a lot of online shopping? Before I could respond, my parents already had me searching for the program to uninstall it, to be reassured they didn’t have spies in their computer.

Google desktop allows you to search your computer just as easily as you would search the web. It’s a desktop search application that provides full text search over your email, files, music, photos, chats, Gmail, and web pages that you’ve viewed. To read about Google Desktop, you can visit http://desktop.google.com/features.html

Google states “Your Google Desktop index and copies of your files are currently stored only on your computer. The content is not shared with Google or anyone else without your explicit permission.”

What are they going to come up with next?

George McFly * couldn’t have said it any better on that cool November afternoon in Hill Valley, California. Little did he know that your Density – that is, your click density, is in fact your destiny. If it’s not currently part of your web analysis, keep reading.

“Click Density” can be defined as “How Visitors are Interacting with my Website”, in a visual representation. If you’re like us here at MoreVisibility and use Google Analytics all the time, you’ll be able to use the Site Overlay report to see where visitors are clicking, and then, where they are clicking after that.

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