Google - Kate

1. Google is my life. I am annoyed beyond belief when I am on a computer and Google is not set as the go-to search engine. I use Google calendar, search engine, Google Earth, YouTube - you name it, I probably have a brand loyalty to Google. I think part of it is my personality. I did my undergrad at Wartburg because I never wanted to be a number; I wanted people to know me and have a personal atmosphere. Maybe that says something about my dedication and loyalty to Google. I appreciate the fact that everything is user-friendly, convenient, helpful, and free. My mom wanted a new email address, and I wouldn't make her one unless she agreed to switch to Gmail instead of Hotmail. Google has made me a walking advertisement for them, but that's okay as long as they continue to make my life simpler.

2. According to Wikipedia, Google earns 99% of their revenue through advertising. This is huge. One problem with this is that they haven't been able to combat "click fraud," which is described as either a human or a program clicking on the advertising without actually being interested in it. Still, they're obviously doing something right due to their success. Google is really an innovative company. They are aptocratic in the fact that they recognize talent and potential and snatch it up to make it part of their family, putting that talent under their wing. Just two examples of companies they bought and took over are (as they are now named) Google Earth and Google Voice.

This aptocracy discussion reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend who is currently in dental school and doing exceptionally well. He was remarking about a conversation he had with his sister. He said that she was complaining about her career in social work and how little money she made. He told her to get off her butt and go back to dental school if she wanted to have money - he nonchalantly told me that she is just lazy, and anyone who is poor is just lazy. Oh, I was steaming out of my ears. Not everyone in the world can be a dentist, or a doctor, or a lawyer. It doesn't mean that those individuals aren't smart and don't have exceptional talents of their own, but he didn't recognize the fact that individuals are unique and have their own perspectives and gifts. For being so smart, he's pretty dense. I'm not sure that he's Google material.

I wanted to share something with you from my website's dashboard. With my photography website that I get through VistaPrint, it breaks down for me where all of my traffic comes from - in other words, how people found my website. I add a lot of pictures on Facebook with the link to my website posted as the caption on the Facebook. That's my advertising. Truthfully, that strategy hasn't gotten me a lot of my business. It's free advertising. The 2nd place referral site is Google - go figure. Google is ahead by a LOT compared to all other search engines.

3. This is what I have to say about Yahoo!: They just haven't been able to keep up. Google is young and hip and cool. My 39 year old sister and her 49 year old husband use Yahoo for everything. They use it because they're afraid of change and neither of them even know how to attach a file to an email. That's the image that comes to mind for me when someone wants to talk about Google v. Yahoo.