Some time back I asked in a blog post if "Google is stealing equity from your brand?" It struck me that brands don’t really consider what shows up "next to them" in their search results with the same discipline and care as they consider the issue at retail in traditional brick and mortar environments.
Today’s headline regarding American Airlines suing Google, reminded me of this post. I don’t know all the merits of the case, but none the less, it is an issue for brand managers and web strategists – and on the surface seems wrong to me. In this case, AA keywords like "AAdvantage" are returning AA competitor results next to American’s paid result.
Google stands by the actions in the article:
Google spokesperson says: … confident that our trademark policy strikes a proper balance between trademark owners’ interests and consumer choice, and that our position has been validated by decisions in previous trademark cases."
But interestingly when I tried this search in Google this morning I saw only one sponsored link result – and it was for American. Here’s the view I got:
And Live Search for sake of equity (nothing by AA here):
I wonder what’s up with the apparent change in the search results this morning? And more importantly, I wonder how much brand managers are thinking through these issues. Having competitors appear with your keywords is perhaps troubling…but there are far more disturbing links that could show up next to your brand!
Sean
del.icio.us tags:
AA,
Google,
Live,
Web2.0,
brand,
SEOIn The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman explores the impact of globalization on economics, business and competitive marketplaces. It’s a worthwhile read that has been reviewed by many bloggers – so I won’t here. In the book, Friedman outline’s the 10 drivers of flattening and the more recent convergence of these flatteners driving even more rapid change in the industry.
This whole line of thinking has had me thinking about issues of governance, decision making and innovation velocity. The principles of a flat world can give you strategic advantage, but "flat companies" will WIN in the flat world.
So, what are the signs of an organization that is not flat?
- How many people between the "front line" and the CEO (span of control and org depth)?
- How close are executives to customer listening systems – and how accountable are they held for the results?
- How difficult is cross functional collaboration? (test: "us or them" speak vs "we" speak)
- How fast (if at all) do ideas flow from the front line to the decision makers (CXOs)?
- How many people need to be in a room to make a decision?
- How quickly can you respond to competitive pressures and or changes in the marketplace?
I’m sure this is not comprehensive and would love to see you add to the list.
Keep in mind, a flat organization is not a democracy – success is still dependent on strong and empowered leadership. I think the question is how quickly and accurately leaders are provided with the inputs necessary to make decisions. And once made, how efficiently do those decisions flow back out and turn into action at the front line.
Sean
Wow, it’s going to be a fun and busy fall – lots of speaking to do! Thought I’d share the plans in case I can connect with anyone who might read this.
Sept. 12-13: Service Innovation Fall Meeting (Austin)
Sept. 23rd: MVP Central & Eastern Europe Open Day (Dubrovnik, Croatia)
Sept. 26th: Advertising Week (NY)
Oct. 4-5: Online Community Summit (Sonoma)
Oct. 16-17: Creative Good Fall Council meeting (San Francisco)
Oct. 18-19: Service Consortium Summit (Orlando)
Oct. ~25-30: MVP Open Days (Santiago, Chile & Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Nov. 14-15: Word of Mouth Marketing Summit (Las Vegas)
Let me know if you’ll be there!
Sean