Really, Google?!? Seriously?

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Let’s face it, for better or worse, Google has changed our world.  Not only do most of us who are not named Bill Gates use it to find what we need to know on the Internet, but Google also defines how many businesses manage their marketing.  Whether it is pay-per-click or SEO, Internet marketing success is defined by how well Google is working for you.

One of the incredible side effects of this new technology dynamic is that businesses of all sorts have been forced to become efficient or die.  When you can use Google to see that the widget you’ve been buying for $20 from the store down the street can be shipped free from Amazon.com for $2.99, your vendors options are to reduce price or shut the doors.

So it is with a sweetly ironic twist that Google recently announced – although by accident – that their revenue numbers were way down.  As users move from PC to mobile, the process for delivering effective advertising has reduced significantly.  As such, Google’s power to put your eyes in front of their advertisers has diminished and with it revenue.  A similar fate has befallen Internet social media giant Facebook.  Facebook has caused incredible social change in a few short years, but has greatly struggled to leverage its incredible popularity.  For some reason, viewers just ignore the ads as they focus on the content they’ve come to see instead.

And so, the very innovation that has changed so many ‘old school’ business models has fallen prey to its own inability to realize the rules of the Internet.  As gurus like Seth Godin have been saying since the days that Yahoo dominated the net, you must have permission to share information.  From there, the most important element is to grow a tribe of like minded people who share your passion.  Only then can you begin to effectively influence others.  Permission leads to Community which leads to Credibility which leads to Influence.  No amount of spam flashed in your face can change that dynamic.

I’m only left to wonder – how could Google not understand the very dynamic they helped create?  Really?  Seriously?