Selling Your Digital Soul to Google

Google recently announced that it would soon be able to show users’ names, photos, ratings and comments in ads across the Web, “endorsing” marketers’ products. Facebook already runs similar endorsement ads. air jordan future It’s now time for the marketing lesson that I like to call “boundaries.” Why does social media work in the first the place? Well, simply put, it’s because your social network is/was a place where you could block out the message you don’t want (ie. marketing) and let in the message you do want (photos of my Mom in Florida at the beach or keeping track of my brother in Texas). Now, with this “minor” update, Google will proceed to serve me up targeted ads and endorsements by those closest to me. And I get it — Google wants to monetize all of this personal data in some way and keep the marshmallow-creme-filled dream that is its existence rolling right along. Here is the problem I see. ugg prix france You have to ASK for endorsements and specifically disclose how they could be used because in the digital age, context is the difference between appropriate and not so much. Maybe I was buying some toenail fungus cream online for a family member and I liked the shopping experience so I said something about it on Google+. Does that give that company the right to use what I said to promote its product directly to my contacts? Not in the least. Let’s put it in fairy tale/moral of the story type terms. adidas y3 So Google has a big fat goose that lays these really cool golden eggs. asics chaussures Things are rolling along, it’s selling tickets for people to watch the goose lay eggs. nike x fragment Occasionally it cashes in an egg or two to meet its expenses. What could go wrong? Greed and stupidity mixed = Greedpidity. Google’s greedpidity makes it say, “I like how things are going, but I’m greedy and impatient so I wonder if I could cut open the hen and just empty out all the eggs at once” Yes, sounds good. Let’s make a “minor” change, do that and see what happens…. If anything could open up opportunity for other players, it’s the greed and stupidity of the current batch. And here’s a quick marketing lesson for Google — the only way endorsements work is if they are (wait for it) REAL! If I see my image used to market anything and I don’t believe it, I’m going to go out of my way to correct the problem and that will give the marketer the exact opposite reaction they were seeking in the first place. So, to review — endorsements must be approved in context by the endorser to have any real value as part of a marketing strategy.