Friday, September 22, 2006
Google is the Speed Dial of the Web
I was talking with someone about web usability today and he mentioned that people are not so much using Google to search anymore, they're using it to navigate. It strikes me as being much the same as the near infinite phone number storage we've all come to expect from cell phones. We used to have to memorize phone numbers, or search for them through our personal phone books or *gasp* the paper phone book. Now, they're at our fingertips. The trade-off here is that we no longer remember them - if you don't have your cell/crackberry/pda, you're out of luck.
Web addresses appear to be moving in much the same direction. Even for familiar URL's, addresses they know, people will often start at Google. What does this mean? Well, in the short-term, if you're a web site owner, you should probably figure out how people Google your site and see where you show up in the listings. In the long-term? It probably means vanity URL's will mean even less, SEO will mean even more. It also probably means we'll all need to wear name badges - or have RFID tags implanted in our skulls so we can remember each others names...
I was talking with someone about web usability today and he mentioned that people are not so much using Google to search anymore, they're using it to navigate. It strikes me as being much the same as the near infinite phone number storage we've all come to expect from cell phones. We used to have to memorize phone numbers, or search for them through our personal phone books or *gasp* the paper phone book. Now, they're at our fingertips. The trade-off here is that we no longer remember them - if you don't have your cell/crackberry/pda, you're out of luck.
Web addresses appear to be moving in much the same direction. Even for familiar URL's, addresses they know, people will often start at Google. What does this mean? Well, in the short-term, if you're a web site owner, you should probably figure out how people Google your site and see where you show up in the listings. In the long-term? It probably means vanity URL's will mean even less, SEO will mean even more. It also probably means we'll all need to wear name badges - or have RFID tags implanted in our skulls so we can remember each others names...
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Google is the Internet for most people these days. In the past, consumers referred to American Online (AOL) as the web, now search is king. Why remember anything, when you can simply type your unformed thought into Google for the answer? The scary thing is Google has so many other products under its umbrella that most people don't utilize such as Google Earth, Google Scholar and Google Talk. The next wave of search will be even more sophisticated like searching for your DNA. Perhaps Google will become conscious and take over the world?
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