Google Chrome OS – What’s it mean for marketing?
KABOOM! Google fires a shot across Microsoft’s bow.
I did not know I would wake up to such amazing news for the Internet, and well shamelessly, my profession today. The Google Chrome OS, a long rumored piece of vaporware, will finally be launched to developers this fall. Not only will Microsoft feel the pinch as they lose market share but so will traditional marketing outlets, as Google gets its heart and soul onto millions of netbooks around the world.
Years ago I was preaching that all businesses, not just the giants, needed to take Internet marketing more seriously. I was saying how the Internet was becoming the most cost effective place to market. THEN, when the Chrome browser was released, I said the Internet is “The Place to Market”. That launch made it clear that Google would be positioning its search engine (which has shaped the way our culture seeks information) to be the center of the information universe.
This means better ads, better targeted, at better prospects!
While many of the Technology blogs, podcasts and tweets today will focus on how the Chrome OS will take the software we use off the hard drive and onto the Internet, few will explore the way this move will shape our behavior. Having the browser being the center of computing means that Google (through in-line ads) will be able to target advertising based on what we are doing – not just what we are viewing. I can Office Depot Coupons placed on the corner of my spreadsheet and greyed out screens waiting for me to watch a commercial before resuming.
Whether this is good or bad for the consumer has yet to be seen, but for marketers the floodgate has just been opened.