Lessons Learned from Google: What to Expect in 2010

Google is doubtlessly one of the most inspiring brands in the technology and business landscape. The subject of much media, classroom, boardroom – and even bookstand discussion – Google’s marketing and business practices inspired Jeff Jarvis to release “What Would Google Do?” this past year, and Aaron Goldman to author “Everything I Know About Marketing, I Learned from Google”, which will be released later in 2010.

Goldman wrote a preview of what he’ll discuss in the book for MediaPost, proposing 10 insights he learned from Google based on their many endeavors in 2009.  For the sake of brevity, we’ve picked the key insights behind some of Google’s top innovations during 2009, serving as a preview of what we should be prepared to address and evolve in digital space in 2010 – as led by Google, of course.

Google knows us better than we know ourselves. Adding new features to Google Suggest, including personalization.  Launching personalized recommendations for Google Reader.  Rolling out personalized search for everyone, regardless of having a Google account and/or logging in. The data Google collected on its users allowed for a level of personalization that can at times both impress and unsettle us.

A social experiment… In October, Google bowed a social search experiment in labs. With Social Search, Google finds relevant public content from your friends and contacts and highlights it for you at the bottom of your search results. When I do a simple query for [new york], Google Social Search includes my friend’s blog on the results page under the heading “Results from people in your social circle for New York.”  A cool experiment that speaks to a demand for easier, more organized access to the digital personas of individuals within our social and professional networks  - or at least for a more satisfying response to our curiosity when we Google someone.

There is a place for display ads on SERPs. Google announced Product Listing Ads – graphic ads on the Google results page.  We expect to see Google evolve what it offers to advertisers on these ads – or to see agencies and brands propose ideas to Google for how these graphic ads can be made more compelling – as long as it remains relevant and non-interruptive to its users.

Mobile marketing has arrived. In November, Google acquired AdMob, a mobile display ad technology provider, for $750 million in stock. There’s no denying that mobile should be part of every brand or advertisers consideration set for its media plan.  But it will also be on mobile service providers shoulders to play well together in order to make mobile internet (and ultimately commerce) accessible and affordable to more users.  Signing up for an iPhone or Droid shouldn’t be the only way to fully experience the mobile promise.

Knowledge (and sharing it) is power. Google tracked the swine flue epidemic through Google Flu Trends. In October, Google expanded this project to 16 additional countries so people could figure out how many disposable masks and gloves they needed to pack before traveling.  Like a seasoned broadcast newscaster, Google used its access to information to help people react to an unfamiliar global health situation.

Media Post: “Top 10 Things I Learned From Google This Year”