Doodle for Google Contest
I think Google's adopted a strategy of using contests to maintain brand awareness, to keep people using their search engine for the long term. I think that's why their contests focus on students, the future of Google's revenues. Today, they've announced www.google.com/doodle4google:The National Winner will win a $10,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of their choice, a trip to the Googleplex, a laptop computer, and a t-shirt printed with their doodle. We'll also award the winner's school a $25,000 grant towards the establishment/improvement of a computer lab.The Doodle for Google contest is open to K-12 students. Not too long ago, they announced a contest for college students called the Google Online Marketing Challenge. See the pattern? Clever way to keep top of mind, eh?
I wonder if the goodwill they generate from these contests helps them gloss over serious blunders they've made and which might have had more serious consequences for other companies. Examples of Google mistakes that could harm the Google brand:
- Hijacking 404 pages (confirmed by Google)
- Domain name search hijacking
- Running a hidden ad network
- Ignoring their own corporate mission and philosophy
- Not addressing serious flaws in their advertising system
Apogee Tags: doodle for google, google contest, doodle4google
posted by Richard at 11:58 AM
5 Comments:
richard, heres a good one on your topic of the secret ad network and adsense for domains. check out http://gamego.com/ and tell me how this has anything to do with direct navigation (when im sure no one types in gamego.com) and it contains merely links to domainsponsor and its information.com adsense for domains ads. id like to know your opinion on this. it seems even more removed from any semblance of a search query generating the clicks on the ads. do you think the advertisers are getting what they paid for, or do they even know thier ads appear on pages like this.
That does, indeed, look like a site which could be perpetrating searchportal.information.com click fraud. Notice the search box buried way down at the bottom of the page? That probably allows them to be classified for the search network (higher CPCs) instead of the content network.
BTW, how are you aware of this particular site, anonymous?
It's very odd how Google is cracking down on MFA (Made for AdSense) sites on the content network but then allowing these parked domains which are clearly not true "direct navigation" sites to prosper on the search network.
I suspect more advertisers would complain if Google reports were a little more transparent and/or if the advertisers themselves kept search ads separate from content ads.
Don't forget to add to the list of Google's wrongs the company's (through the acquired YouTube) effective blatant violation of copyrights.
The initial proceeding, in the billion-dollar suit Viacom has brought against Google/YouTube, should start this summer.
It is surprising that even with the suit pending, Google has made no attempt to "clean up" YouTube of Viacom's copyrighted material. Just visit the site and do searches for any range of Viacom's material and you will pull up a wealth of copyrighted material.
Google says they are working on "filters" to control copyrighted material, but I have to wonder what is taking so long?
The company seems to have very few problems when it comes to keeping adult sexual material off the sites, but then seems to be engaged in "willful blindness" about users posting videos that blatantly violate copyrights.
I don't think the Digital Millenium Copyright Act was designed to protect the sort of "willful blindness" Google practices with the content the company allows to be posted on YouTube.
In looking at your post again, I see that you are talking about Google's "mistakes."
I called them a list of "wrongs" -- which I think is a better description.
I think Google practices the same "willful blindness" when it comes to the "distribution fraud" you've discussed before, as the company uses when it allows copyright infringement to exist on YouTube.
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