Is Google So 2009?

Maybe Google should start partying like it’s 2009.

A few things are clear:

1. Facebook has beaten Google in the US for traffic in 2010.
2. Google is still very miuch a one trick pony and that ad-based searching trick is getting old.
3. Google has failed miserably at social media

Check out these commentaries:

GOOGLE HAS BECOME A SLUM-PIT OF SPAMMERS AND MARKETERS: We Need A New Search Engine
TechCrunch via SAI: Silicon Alley Insider by Vivek Wadwha,

Why We Desperately Need a New (and Better) Google

“It turns out that you can’t easily do such searches in Google any more. Google has become a jungle: a tropical paradise for spammers and marketers. Almost every search takes you to websites that want you to click on links that make them money, or to sponsored sites that make Google money.”

“Content creation is big business, and there are big players involved. For example, Associated Content, which produces 10,000 new articles per month, was purchased by Yahoo! for $100 million, in 2010. Demand Media has 8,000 writers who produce 180,000 new articles each month. It generated more than $200 million in revenue in 2009 and planning an initial public offering valued at about $1.5 billion. This content is what ends up as the landfill in the garbage websites that you find all over the web. And these are the first links that show up in your Google search results.

The bottom line is that we’re fighting a losing battle for the web and need alternative ways of finding the information that we need. I hope that Blekko and a new breed of startups fill this void: that they do to Google what Google did to the web in the late 90’s—clean up the spam and clutter.”

I think the examples in this article are excellent but you probably have a ton of your own.

2010: The Year Facebook Dethroned Google as King of the Web

Indeed Facebook was also the top search term on Google! Anyway, we have to ask why Facebook is mostly leading on sharing, e-mail, recommendations, friending, collaboration, etc. Is this a threat to GOOG? What are the ‘social’ strengths that libraries need to exploit for our missions?

Yep, I’ve been speaking about this for a few years. And this search results issue is a strong differentiator for libraries which do not turn over their database and OPAC search engine algorithms to the needs of search engines and their client advertisers and SEO folks. Library content is high quality and your results are driven by your search criteria and talents and not by the needs of commercial marketing communication interests.

One real question is “How do we make sure that our users know the difference between Google and Library content and services?” Maybe we need to buy ads on Google!

Anyway, this Facebook and social networking / social media thing is approaching the world where it is absolutely NORMAL. By this I mean that the vast majority of users have some form of social internet presence, probably in one of more of Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, MySpace, Bebo, Delicious, Twitter, etc. Those individuals and organizations without a social media strategy are the equivalent of an organization without a website in 2001. And this should appeal to libraries since we ove covering the digital divide and serving underserved markets. Those individuals, for whatever reason, who do not have social connections in the web enabled world can depend on their library to connect them. And not just to equipment and Internet access, but to the word where most jobs are found through social media, many reference checks are done there, and your ability to get decent recommendations and more depend on your network.

The clue that social media is moving into its next phase is that many innovators in the space are declining and there are fewer choices. We saw that when we saw the end of so many search services and now we’re left with mostly Google and Bing. And they’re all up for sale right now. Anyway, maybe Google needs to acquire MySpace, Bebo, Digg, Deicious, AOL, etc. and build on that to surmount their own “We’re smarter than everyone so we will build social ourselves” arrogance. These companies are getting cheaper every day.

Either way, libraries have been doing sharing, technology, search, answers, and more for many many decades. Most modern libraries are already well beyond Web 2.0 / Library 2.0 as this became normal and embedded in our service offerings. The same thing has happened to social networking. What’s next is probably more advanced mobile and apps/HTM5. We’ll adapt to whatever the next phase is as long as we see the opportunity in social media and understand that this is normal for our space today.

6 Predictions for Social Networks in 2011

“Here are my predictions for what will happen in the world of social networking in 2011:
1. Google’s Social Networking Efforts Flop Spectacularly
2. A Middling MySpace Is Sold Off
3. Bebo Gets a New Owner… Again
4. No Facebook IPO in 2011
5. Twitter Has a Very Boring 2011
6. The Social Networking Trend of 2011: Mobile Photos”

Read more after the link.

Anyway, successful organizations meet the needs of their customers (users, whatever). Google is meeting the needs of their customers – advertisers – and being rewarded with about $1 billion profit PER MONTH. (Really, it’s probably not you or your library users. Ask yourself, “How much did I spend with Google last month?”)

How will libraries delight their users, patrons, learners, cardholders, members, clients, customers, attendees, etc. in 2011? What is changing in our environment and how must we change to maintain our greatness?

Stephen