Knowledge is the Foundation To Success  

Google Docs isn’t a new feature, but it’s one that I’m using more and more.

Google Docs allows me to create and upload documents, spreadsheets, drawings and forms from my desktop, then share them with others, who can also update them. (Go to www.docs.google.com to get started.)
I’ve used it with clients to collaborate on ideas, or to send keywords or ad text. But lately I’ve been using it with my PPC clients to stay current with stock levels. They can update the file when something goes out of stock or comes back into stock and I can make the corresponding changes to their accounts.

Here’s some of the top reasons I like Google Docs so much:

* I can protect it so only the people I invite to access the document can see it. And I can also make it read only.
* It’s real-time.  I can actual see changes being made if I’m in the document at the same time someone is changing something.  No syncing necessary!  No emailing.  No updating the file to make sure you have the most current information.
* I can change my notification settings, so that if someone makes a change, I’ll get an email. Even nicer is that I can be notified for any change, or just changes to a specific sheet, and I can have them emailed immediately or in a daily digest. (This is my favorite)
* It automatically saves. I love the fact that I don’t lose my changes.
* It’s free!

Google Docs is making my job faster and easier, saves my clients money because they are not advertising on something that’s out of stock, gets them more business by making sure I’m advertising something they want to sell, and doesn’t cost me or JumpFly a cent.

Google’s blog post last week announced that they will be partnering with Sony, Logitech and Intel to bring their latest brainchild (Google TV) into your home via your television, Blu-ray player or companion box sometime this fall.  After realizing that people are more readily accessing internet videos and other content via their smartphones and computers, Google TV is born.  Google TV will marry the convenience of internet content with the comfort of the America’s favorite electronic device – the good old television.

According to Google (via Nielsen), the average American spends five hours per day watching TV.  However, while doing their market research, Intel discovered that two BILLION hours of Internet video was downloaded worldwide in February, 2010 alone.  This on top of the fact that 10-15 MILLION U.S. households already stream video to their televisions makes Google TV sound like a fabulous idea.

But wait a minute…doesn’t this technology already exist?  I can already link my PC to my television using an HDMI cable and control it with a wireless keyboard and mouse.  I can use my Chrome browser to search for what I want to watch on Hulu or YouTube.  I can even pay between $27 and $100 to download software from countless providers that allows me access to all the satellite TV I could ever need or want.  So why is Google TV being heralded as such innovative technology?

The answer, in my opinion, will lie in the content and the user interface experience.  If Google TV allows a typical family easy-to-use access to both the internet AND television channels in one seamless experience – Hallelujah!  According to Google, Google TV will do just that.  Google TV “opens up your TV from a few hundred channels to millions of channels of entertainment across TV and the web.”  This allows our televisions to become more than just fancy high definition video players, it turns them into photo slideshow viewers, gaming consoles, music players, entertainment centers, social media hubs and so much more!  Next step is to develop a Google tablet device that has an app that would allow it to be used as a remote.

Google TV is also built on open platforms like Android and Google Chrome which means that developers will be able to create web and Android apps to make the Google TV experience even more robust.  This open-source development means that the sky is the limit and I cannot WAIT to see what Google TV has in store for us.  As Google says:  “This is an incredibly exciting time — for TV watchers, for developers and for the entire TV ecosystem. By giving people the power to experience what they love on TV and on the web on a single screen, Google TV turns the living room into a new platform for innovation. We’re excited about what’s coming. We hope you are too.”

I AM excited Google – THANK YOU!

Allegedly, Apple is in the works to replace Google as the default search engine on its iPhone with Microsoft’s Bing. If this proves true, it is further evidence of the intensifying power struggle between Google and Apple. Bloomberg reports that,”the talks have been under way for weeks, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public. The negotiations may not be concluded quickly and might still fall apart, the people said.” Currently, Google is the default setting on Apple’s iPhone. If users want to search using Bing, they have to download an application and install it.

Nielsen’s latest data indicates that of those who use mobile search, 86% used Google compared to 11% for Bing. However, with iPhone’s dominance and potential switch to Bing, this soon may change. Apple could certainly breathe some new life into Bing, or someone.

Dare I suggest that Apple instead partner with or buy Yahoo? There had been speculation about this potential reality about a year back, prior to Yahoo negotiating a unique partnership with Microsoft. However, that deal does not necessarily prevent Apple from swooping in and taking over Yahoo. Apple could take Yahoo mobile and turn it into the mobile leader. Yahoo also offers an array of additional potential value to Apple. Now seems to be an ideal opportunity for Apple to make a move.

While Google is distracted in China and losing their search focus, they may be providing Apple a window of opportunity to get into search. Apple could then put Yahoo, or iYahoo, in position to potentially dominate the mobile market, which could carry back over to the wired world.

This clash of the titans is likely to yield some interesting results. Change is in the air as Apple and Google determine the technological fate of mankind. As the mobile market evolves, will Google and Apple co-share the entire future mega-mobile market? Will one emerge as the clear leader or will new technologies emerge to topple these seemingly invincible goliaths? Many a great company once dominated an industry, only to become complacent and fall to its doom. Google and Apple are anything but complacent, but the pace of change is rampant in the rapidly evolving online and mobile marketplaces.

Here’s a few interesting tidbits:

According to data gathered by HitWise, the leading global online intelligence service, searches of one word comprise 24.13% of all search queries. People are lazy searchers! This may be valuable information to consider for PPC Advertising.

Google is testing personalized search results by adding information from users’ “public social graph” and integrating it into the individual’s search results pages. Google is using everything they know from users’ profiles, social networks and more to provide a customized search experience. Along with real-time search, these developments certainly change the search engine optimization (SEO) landscape.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned.