Quote to Note: Google as Remote Control for the World

September 8, 2010

Here is a quote to note. With Texas regulators looking to toss a haunch of Googzilla on the grill, statements like the one below may become the sauce for the cook out:

“Google has become the remote control for the world; it’s the first stop, not TV,” said Will Margiloff, CEO of Innovation Interactive, a unit of Denstu. “More than any other media, that messaging is requested; people are seeking BP’s answers out as opposed to waiting to be told.”

You can get more about the ad industry’s perception of Google in “What Big Brands Are Spending on Google.” I have no idea if the numbers are accurate. What is interesting is that the numbers are in the millions with a spread from $2.0 million to $8.0 million. Equally impressive are the outfits pumping dough into Google’s online advertising systems. I noted that Google’s executives tag AT&T for about $8.0 million.

Not so much for a year of Google, right?

Wrong.

The alleged data are for a single month. On an annualized basis, that works out to about $100.0 million.

Some thoughts from the goose pond this fine morning:

What is the traction a mom-and-pop business (assuming there are any left with ad dollars) get from a Google ad? The magnitude of the spend makes a couple of hundred of earmarked bucks for the Google look somewhat modest next to these Chrysler Building scale investments.
What must AT&T executives think about giving the Google $100.0 million in cash to reach Google’s customers? I can only imagine the joy, warmth, and happiness that spreads across the ad manager’s face.
What accommodations, intentional or unintentional, accidental or purposeful, must Google make to ensure that big buck advertisers’ messages reach the right eyeballs? My hunch is that algorithms are objective. But are those pesky thresholds and dependencies set my humanoids or another look up table? Fascinating to think about.

Quite a phrase, however, no matter what the answers to these questions are. “Remote control for the world.” That has a ring to it. I can’t work my TV’s remote control either. C

Stephen E Arnold, September 8, 2010

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Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, Google, Marketing, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.