Considering the dry topic, this is a surprisingly readable account of the company called Google and how its name rose to become a verb in the dictionary. Author Aaron Goldman even uses it in adjective form: “Googley,” a new word to me, as well as the more familiar “Google juice.”
Goldman explains how Google, the most important search engine on the Internet, works, swiftly scanning trillions of pages to find the ones most relevant to a query. Things that Google looks for include the title of a page, copy and images on the page, links pointing to the page, the date the page was created, and how often it’s updated. Goldman recommends that marketers trying to get to the top of Google, should corner the market on their area, by making themselves “the Google of your category.”
The rest of the book, in 21 chapters, goes into great detail about Google’s own rise as well as that of several other companies who use the Internet highly effectively. Lessons shared can apply to small companies as well as the world famous. The chapter “Your Unique Selling Proposition is Critical” is particularly interesting. It covers what attributes make effective slogans, and lists Goldman’s 25 favourite ones, going from “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!” to “Breakfast of champions.” The chapter includes an exercise to discover your unique selling proposition, which can lead to new, highly targetted ways of considering your brand.
This book is most relevant to people using the Internet extensively, but it is accessible enough for almost any marketer to get some benefit out of it. It can be read enjoyably from cover to cover, but Goldman advises in his introduction that each chapter should be read, digested and applied individually.
Research manual or marketing overview, this book explains the Internet as it is now, as well as where it, and our customers, may be going in the future.
McGraw-Hill, 2011, $31.95
