Like every Super Bowl, the day-after water cooler conversation includes reviews of the game, but to a larger extent we’re all talking about the cool commercials that ran.  The buzz across the Internet is no different and I have come across a lot on the third quarter Google Ad.

I liked it.  Its a nice feel-good story cleverly told through a series of search queries. It moves quickly – which I thought was the perfect way to show the speed at which really important information spanning many different aspects of life can be found through Google.  The balance between conveying speed of information retrieval and being able to understand what was behind the story really worked for these reasons:

1. I got enough to understand what was behind the story
2. I liked the story, ….it was nice and made me want to watch it again
3. I liked the story but didn’t quite capture all of it because of the speed, ….so,
4. I jumped on YouTube and watched it again!!

What a brilliant strategy!

If you didn’t see it you can watch it here:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU&feature=pyv&ad=3910383803&kw=parisian%20love[/youtube]

Every aspect of what Google search has perfected and become to us is conveyed in this ad – including speed of search, understanding misspellings and redirecting to the correct spelling, access to definitions, translations, directions, local business listings and even access to directions on how to assemble a crib.

Certainly there are a lot of other opinions and maybe I just love the technology aspect coupled with being a sap for a story like this.  But a good take-away for businesses is that we have become so reliant on search and social interaction on the web that if you are not taking advantage of Google local business listings, search engine optimization, social media participation and pay-per-click opportunities you have just created a long-distance relationship with your customers.

It looks to me like there is real opportunity to help Google find and deliver social content through the establishment of a “Google Public Profile.”

As Google is now delivering relevant content through their social search, establishing a public profile seems to be the equivalent of submitting a site-map in the Google Webmaster Tools. Only this time, you’re submitting a “site-map” of yourself! In essence, when you create a “Google Public Profile” you are presenting Google with a centralized place to find and consider information within your social circle.

Matt Cutts gives a great explanation of the philosphy behind the public profile and the opportunity to make good content available through social search. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlpTjP6h6Ms[/youtube]

So why bother doing this?

• Google will likely give preferential treatment to the content you put at its doorstep.
• It’s yet another page of personal content to help you build credibility (assuming you are a thoughtful social media participant).
• It’s a way to bring all of your social media elements together with your “old school” contact info.

Are you ready to create your Google Public Profile…? Here’s the link to get you started www.google.com/s2/profiles/me.

by Matt Hamm

Like the rest of the world, we have really thrown ourselves into social media over the past 2 years.  Even to the point that we used Twitter to submit employee of the month nominations at yesterdays company meeting.

We began including social media optimization services both in best practice consultations and internally promoting our clients businesses through Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and other channels.  We’ve seen good results on two fronts, for our clients, and by gaining new business for ourselves.

I hear a lot of opinions that social media is moving at such a quick pace that search engine optimization is going to be less necessary and therefore less focussed on.  At least here at Site-Seeker, I have not seen a drop in contracts including SEO nor in the result of SEO to our clients websites.  I came across a pretty cool and related post that uses Google Trends to measure level of interest in social media versus search engine optimization.  SEO or Social Media: Is SEO Needed Now That Social Media Has Arrived.

The author uncovers some curious data about the trends of search activity versus the push of news references for both SEO and social media. Specifically:

• the number of people searching for seo as compared to social media has been narrowing although SEO is still searched for more frequently
• while news references for SEO have remained consistent the references for social media are more frequent and that trend is continuing.

It’s a quick read and pretty interesting.