Book review: What would Google do, by Jeff Jarvis

Introduction to the book’s main idea

Google is among those companies that have enjoyed financial success and extraordinary brand recognition as a result of the online information economy. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that billions of web users across the globe identify information seeking with Google itself.

Of course, information existed before Google, but what Google has managed to do in a different and unique way is to organize this information like never before in the past. Literally speaking, the Google search engine is an aggregator of information from past and the present, in order to hopefully promote the generation of more into the future.

Prior to Google, other famous companies, in the likes of IBM (a pioneering firm that literally set the foundations of widespread computer use), Microsoft, Apple etc., built their technological empires on the fact that they could take advantage of their ability to create and exploit cutting-edge machines, applications, and tools.

Google can boast about its capacity to provide an award-winning platform that has increased exponentially the number of Internet users worldwide, as well as the number and variety of web searches performed by those users. Therefore, in an increasingly networked modern society, companies, both online and offline would find great value in deciding to analyze and follow Google’s business tactics.

A few words about the author

Jeff Jarvis, the writer of the book, is a widely known authority in the global community of bloggers. His word is listened to and followed faithfully by his students (he teaches journalism), and of course by existing and aspiring bloggers and online writers.

The reader of this book will find extremely useful and honest insights into the way that blogging works. A presentation of a large number of practical case studies can help those with an active interest in search engine optimization understand how to write their blog posts and develop a SEO-friendly site. By applying this kind of tactics, companies like About.com (currently Dotdash.com) have managed to grow their organic, search engine traffic, to the extent that it accounts for an astoundingly high percentage of their total traffic.

How has Google managed to become the dominant online search engine

It is perhaps one of the most powerful examples of how effective the combination of the right products can be, when it is spread by word of mouth, enhanced by the multiplying power of the Internet itself.

Google's standard policy on its homepage is, and has always been, to keep it simple and advertising-free. In this way, quite astonishingly, comparing it with more traditional relevant models of the past (see Yahoo), it has always offered top value to the searchers using it, since its real competitive advantage is based on the wealth of resources mined by the search engine, and not on how colorful and full of ads its homepage is.

As a conclusion, the new model of doing business is sharing value with your audience.

In fact, this relationship of mutual benefit and openness has always determined the winners. Chances have always been high that, the more you give, the more you receive.

On top of that, this open model is a strong competitive advantage against your competitors who choose to follow the path of limiting access to freely available resources.

In the past, there were pioneering search engines that unfortunately didn’t prove to be a sustainable model of online information searching. Legendary names that put their mark on the history of the Internet, such as Infoseek, Lycos, Excite, and AltaVista lost the battle even before it started. On the contrary, Google grew its presence steadily year by year, finally reaching its current status.

Sources and further reading:

Book review: What Google do? by Jeff Jarvis-Goodreads

How Google came to dominate search and what the future holds

Google turns 20: How an Internet search engine reshaped the world

The story behind Google’s success

The history of search engines

What Would Google Do? Summary and Review

What Would Google Do?