Google: Consumer Behavior

How would you describe the attitude towards the brand on the market?

Google got since the beginning a good image towards Internet consumers. Launched in 1998 Google was there during the Internet Gold Rush by providing the most useful and pertinent service(Internet orientation) and this for free. Google is in a certain way: our friend and/or a part of our life on Internet. This was a long time ago, before that it became so popular as it is now. Popularity has good and bad points and generate a lot of envy either from competition than public opinion.

Privacy issues: Big Brother aspect:

Medias have taken recently the privacy wave phenomenon to highlight how potentially Google is dangerous. The most recent news which is denouncing it are the pictures taken by Google in the street for his application Google Street Views.

[1]http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE54C22R20090513.http://www.

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/20/AR2009052002776.html

The recent launch of Google Chrome

[2]http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/depeches/medias/multimedia/20080905.ZDN6592/google

_chrome_ou_la_crainte_dun_navigateur_big_brother_.html, 

an Internet web browser is enforcing the Big Brother reputation that some want to give to Google in plus of its commercial aspect. In 2007 a survey made in the United Kingdom on  1,101 persons shows that 60% of the respondents were unsure that Google will keep their information private

[3]http://www.bigmouthmedia.com/live/articles/survey-results-uncertainty-over-googles-data-pri.asp. 

However in comparison of all the leaders present on the market Google is the one that Internet users trust the most keep their information private.

So on one hand people do not trust search engines in general regarding data privacy issues. However if they had one in which they should give their trust it would be Google.

Those consumer fears can be easily understood by the following statements: "All of the major search engines collect data about our use of their services, and it adds up to a considerable amount of information.

How much access do we have to view and control that information? Very little, really. How easy is it for us to find out what information is being collected about us and how it is used? What assurances do we have as to the usage of that information? How much control do we have over it? Would they be willing to let us remove that data? Should they create Ombudsman offices?"

[4]http://www.bigmouthmedia.com/live/articles/bigmouthmedia-investigates-big-brother-survey-rev.asp/3710/

Commercial aspect:   

In 2007 a survey made in the United Kingdom asked to 1,000 British Internet users about the following question “Is Google becoming too commercial?”. 

To this question 23 % of women answered no and 35 % of men said yes.

[5]http://www.bizreport.com/2007/05/gender_split_in_attitude_toward_google.html

"Google now dominates in so many areas that some people perceive it as all-powerful or arrogant. In some ways, that's true - but Google still adheres to its "do no evil" mantra in my opinion."

[6] http://www.bizreport.com/2007/05/gender_split_in_attitude_toward_google.html

Google is for sure more and more powerful, with more than 60% of market shares around the world. The advancement of technology made him customizing every advertisement on the Internet we faced which enforce this feeling. 

However as we can see Google is not considered yet as too commercial.

Conclusion: 

As a conclusion for this part I would say that Google has the chance that Microsoft got one of the worst reputation in the software and ICT industry by providing costly solutions for lock-in configurations.It gives then to Google the example to not follow and allow him to adopt a clearly different strategy: providing to everyone who has an access to Internet a highly demand technology for free. Google took since the beginning the “Don’t be evil"

[7] http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/dont-be-evil/2008/04/15/1208025168177.html

http://searchengineland.com/14-is-google-evil-tipping-points-since-2001-10174

slogan which means: “don’t think about short-term strategies which consist in exploiting consumers”. So let’s say a “don’t kill the golden goose”

[8]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goose_that_Laid_the_Golden_Eggs

strategy. 

However the “Don’t be evil” slogan is hard to keep in mind when Google is making 37 times more revenues than in 2002 and that the primary objective of a firm is providing increasing returns to shareholders. The recent launch of some of its products: Google Maps, Google Chrome, raised a lot of issues and questions regarding privacy issues. Google was also attacked recently this year by medias on environmental issues.

[9]  http://www.pcworld.com/article/156899/study_searching_google_damages_the_

environment.html

We can say that the success of brands like Google, BlackBerry, Apple and Amazon is amazing. Each of these brands is delivering an experience that is not only easy, friendly and fun to use, but one that is customized to each user. Google has today the reputation of being a part of our Internet experience life, we grew up with him and really recognize it as a trustful brand. However by getting more and more bigger people are seeing it as new Microsoft with the fear one day to be controlled by him.