The Telegraph reports in "Google teams up with Citizens Advice Bureau" that Google is running its first non-Google-specific campaign in the U.K. to promote awareness for online safety. The campaign is named "Good To Know" and leads to google.co.uk/goodtoknow, where users can learn more about online safety tips. Google teamed up with the Citizens Advice Bureau on this campaign, where the two organizations are using newspaper ads, ads on public transport and online ads to promote the initiative. One of the major pushes is to get people to use "two-factor authentication" to help protect the [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Marketing | Google: Security

How do you spread the word about your awesome new social media network? If you're Google, apparently you turn to a full page ad in the old media of the New York Times. My copy of the New York Times today contained this giant ad on the back of the main section, pitching how the Dalai Lama used Google Hangout -- a feature of Google Plus -- to join in Desmond Tutu's 80th birthday celebration: Here's a close-up of the main part of the ad: The ad has copy that originally says the Dalai Lama wasn't able to join the celebration after not being granted a visa, but then those portions are stru [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Features: Analysis | Google: Google+ | Google: Marketing

Dan Barker posted 14 images of the first Google Store that launched in London last week. Here are some pictures shared by Dan of Google's first retail store, named Chromezone, which he's given us permission to reprint: [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Chrome | Google: Chrome OS | Google: Marketing | Google: Stores

Years from now, when we're comparing the number of Google, Apple and Microsoft branded stores around the world, let's remember that, for Google, it all began in late September 2011 with a small retail mini-store in London. According to the Evening Standard, Google's mini-store is called "Chromezone" and is located inside a PC World store. It's only 285 square feet and sells Google Chromebook computers along with related accessories. In the article, Google UK head of consumer marketing Arvind Desikan says that the mini-store is just the start of Google's retail plans. It is our first f [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Chrome OS | Google: Marketing | Google: Stores

Google is, again, wiping the egg off of its company face this week after the New York Times exposed yet another way in which some users are manipulating Google Places to the detriment of unsuspecting small/local business owners. The latest issue involves unscrupulous individuals/companies marking other businesses as closed in Google Places. It's a process that the Times' article calls "surprisingly easy" to do: In recent months, plenty of perfectly healthy businesses across the country have expired — sometimes for hours, other times for weeks — though only in the online realm catalog [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Features: Analysis | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Marketing

Google appears to be readying plans to roll out its "Get Your Business Online" program across the U.S. That's based on Mike Blumenthal's discovery that Google has recently added more than 100 domains to its portfolio, with URLs such as coloradogetonline.com, dakotagetonline.com, getoregononline.com, getpennsylvaniaonline.com, newyorkgetonline.com, northcarolinagetonline.com, ohiogetonline.com, etc. Get Your Business Online is Google's outreach program for small businesses. It offers them a free website, free hosting, domain name, a business listing on Google Places and additional mar [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Business Issues | Google: Marketing

Google's latest effort to increase small business adoption of its products and services is a program called Texas Get Your Business Online that offers a free website, free hosting, domain name, a business listing on Google Places and additional marketing help. The effort is being accompanied by an aggressive promotion campaign, like the heavy and impossible-to-miss advertising on the Austin-American Stateman's website today. The free website and services are good for one year. After that, the website will cost $5 per month and the domain name $2 per month. Google reps have been in Au [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Business Issues | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Marketing

Heads up! Google's got something search-related that will likely be announced next week. The company sent out invites to an "Inside Search" event happening next Tuesday. From the invite: Please join us at Inside Search, an event where Amit Singhal and other experts will take you through an under the hood look at Google Search, share our vision and demo some of our newest technology and features. We hope to see you there. The program begins at 9:30am Pacific Time and runs through 11:00am, when there will be product demos happening. It takes place at the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts, in [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Marketing | Google: Web Search

The Google I/O developers conference has turned into an event where people anticipate big announcements about forthcoming Google products. But at Google I/O 2011 next week, don't expect Google to rollout a shiny new social network. Expect little to do with social at all. That's the word from a source close to Google. There will be no major social announcement coming. Google apparently wants to set expectations appropriately after months of rumors that something would be coming. Sniff, No Social Circles? No Video Conferencing? What rumors? Back in March, Google Preparing To Launch Social " [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: +1 | Google: Marketing | Google: Social Search | Top News

Google's Gingerbread (Android 2.3) offers near field communication (NFC) support, which can be used for both "contactless payments" and marketing purposes. People tend to think about and discuss NFC in the context of "mobile wallets" and payments exclusively but there's a great deal more it can do. For example, Google has been testing NFC-based marketing in Portland with window decals for small businesses. The idea there is touch the phone (Nexus S) to the window decal and get a bunch of information about the business (e.g., Google Place page data). Big Plans for NFC Beyond Payme [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Marketing | Google: Mobile | Legal: Privacy | Legal: Regulation

Google's sporting a special logo today, this one in honor of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. The company is also inviting people to celebrate through real-life and virtual events around the world. Plus, "Pegman" on Google Earth is being joined for the first time by "Pegwoman." Pegman, Meet Pegwoman That's Pegwoman at the top right of this post. To see her on Google Maps, click on the Pegman icon and drag him to drop on any street that's marked in blue, which indicates that Google has StreetView photography for that location: When you let go, Pegwoman will appear on [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos | Google: Marketing

Google's on-the-streets promotional blitz for its Hotpot ratings and recommendations service has landed a new home: Las Vegas. The company has just announced a local marketing campaign in "sin city" that's aimed at upping usage of Google Places and Hotpot. As part of the launch, Google is giving away 10,000 free Las Vegas Monorail tickets today (and until supplies last). Las Vegas is the third city to get an in-person promotional push. Google's first such campaign started in Portland, Oregon before Christmas. (Portlander David Mihm wrote an excellent review of that campaign's hits and [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Marketing

Among those watching IBM's Watson win Jeopardy last night were folks at Google, which just tweeted congrats over to IBM. In response, IBM has said thanks. Ah, sweet. The Google tweet: The IBM response: For more about the Jeopardy match involving Watson, see our post from yesterday: Could Google Play Jeopardy Like IBM’s Watson? [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Marketing | Search & Society: General

Earlier this week Apple introduced its long-awaited in-app subscription service for publishers. As part of that arrangement Apple wants its standard 30 percent cut of iTunes/app revenue. However it threw a bone to publishers by allowing all revenue from subscriptions initiated outside the iTunes environment to be kept by publishers. Many publishers are now angry that Apple wants part of their subscription dollars and wants to get between them and their customers (once again). Almost like a predator lying in wait, the very next day Google pounced and announced One Pass, an open system in wh [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Retail | Features: Analysis | Google: Business Issues | Google: Checkout | Google: Marketing | Google: Mobile | Google: Other | Google: Partnerships

Is Facebook's third largest advertiser really a site that tries to trick people into switching to Bing? Apparently not. Still, Bing's not happy with the tactics and is ending its relationship with the publisher. The site, Make-My-Baby.com, now appears to have gone down. But earlier today, it was suggesting that people needed a plug-in to use it -- one that would install a toolbar and change their search provider and home page to Bing. The site had allowed people to create baby characters. Not Facebook's 3rd Biggest Advertiser An Ad Age article suggests that Make-My-Baby is Facebook's [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Marketing | Microsoft: Marketing | Toolbars & Add-Ons | Top News

Google has just become the number one search engine in the Czech Republic, leaving only five countries on earth where it's not the most popular site for searching the web. According to Toplist, a web measurement service, Google's aggregate share inside the Czech Republic was 47.2% between January 4 and January 12 (yesterday). That's a combination of searches done on Google.cz, Google.sk, and other Google engines used inside the country. It beats the aggregate share of Seznam.cz and two other Seznam sites, which had 45.5% share during the same week. (chart source and Google translatio [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Google: Marketing | Google: Outside US | Search Engines: Outside USA | Stats: comScore | Stats: Popularity | Top News

Google is launching a new campaign in Portland, Oregon, today that's designed to promote HotPot, the company's recently announced service that invites users to review local businesses and then feeds those reviews into Google Places. The marketing is clever and the benefits for local businesses seem obvious, but there's a problem: Google is breaking its own rules about business reviews in the process. Google has explained several components of the HotPot marketing blitz: Google staffers will be visiting local businesses to "educate them about Google Places" and give them a marketing kit with [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Marketing | Top News

It looks like one of the early adopters of Twitter's "Promoted Accounts" advertising program is ... Google. I took the screenshot at left just moments ago when I visited my Twitter home page. Right at the top, under the "Who to follow" heading, is an ad encouraging me to follow Google Mobile's Twitter account, @GoogleMobile. Twitter just formally launched Promoted Accounts a little more than a month ago with "only a handful of companies" in the program. I'm waiting to hear from Twitter if Google has been added as a new advertiser and if Promoted Accounts is being opened to additional compan [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Google: Marketing | Google: Mobile | Microsoft: Bing Mobile | Microsoft: Marketing | Twitter

Back in October, Bing announced that it uses over 1,000 signals used to determine how to rank pages. Google has typically quoted using more than 200. Game on! I predicted Google would quickly find a way to match Bing's figure. Yesterday, it did. Google's 200 Factors For several years now, Google has said that it uses more than 200 signals to rank pages. The figure has been designed to explain the complexity of deciding what pages show up first, but never as some type of "bragging" rights of having a more complicated algorithm. Schmidt: Listing Google’s 200 Ranking Factors Would Reveal Busi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Marketing | Google: SEO | Microsoft: Bing News Search | Microsoft: Marketing

Don't like Google Street View taking pictures of your house? "Just move," joked Google CEO Eric Schmidt, in a CNN interview on Friday. A controversial joke, no doubt -- one made even more controversial for later seeming to disappear from the interview. Don't blame Google, the company says. It didn't ask for the quote to be pulled. And by the way, anyone can remove pictures of their home from Google, no need to move required. More below. The Full Interview Versus What Aired Last Friday afternoon, Schmidt did a taped interview with Kathleen Parker and Eliot Spitzer, co-hosts of the new Parker [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Critics | Google: Marketing | Google: Street View | Top News