About Google

As a netizen I visit www.google.com everytime I connect to internet. Sometime back I read somewhere a quote 'When in doubt search Google; when certain...make it your Home page!'

Well I certainly have Google.com as my Homepage - and I am sure most of you would have it too...

But how many times we browse Google itself? Believe it or not bland looking Google search page has few links that lead to wealth of information about Google...don't believe? 

Check this: http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/about.html

Go to 'Our Company' section. Unlike 'About Us' of most other companies this one is a wonderful and engaging read. The language is simple and without any jargons/ buzzwords. In fact it tilts more towards light humour.

Also, just like Google search - the information about Google unfolds slowly; you find more and more links as you start moving. For instance check this 'Corporate Information':

http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/corporate/

Many of the things never appear elsewhere - in magazines, articles or even books written on Google story...

The information and especially the language tells a lot about the Google culture. As I mentioned before, the words are not heavy with jargon and management fundas, but still they captivate you and force you to read the rest of the page. For example, check this: 

On Google Philosophy page, the prelude to 'Ten things' starts with line 'Never settle for the best' ...

Google's Ten things:

http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/corporate/tenthings.html

This very first line mandated me to read the Ten things - which otherwise would hint at some preaching that looks great on paper but not in practice.

Even the Ten things use very simple and direct language to convey the point. I do not know to what extent Google follows these things in practice...but I believe they must be doing so...for it is not easy for any organization to come up with such points unless they have well thought about them and have implemented them.

These Ten things, in a way, also make a dig at some popular beliefs - and makes mockery of them. e.g. 'You can be serious without a suit'!!! (aimed at those high-flying Top Managers spending 3/4 th of their life in air-conditioned boardrooms...or 'Democracy on web works' aimed at, no prizes for guessing, Microsoft et al.

But the on
e
write-up I liked most was 'Fast is better than slow'

A website's success to bring customers and keep them glued to it is usually measured in terms of time a user spends on the website - referred to as 'stickiness of the website'. The more the stickiness, i.e. the more the time spent by a net surfer on a webpage, the better the marketing of product/ service! It is assumed that when a net surfer lingers over a web page, he would end up buying the product/ service being offered.

Even for Bloggers: when we register for various websites providing statistics, they give two important details - no. of visitors and average time spent by a visitor.

Secondly, in case of online advertising and related money earned, it is based on number of 'click-throughs' from the advertised page.

In short, maximizing 'stickiness' of website is the ultimate aim of any online business.

I spent so much time to explain this is to set backdrop for Google's 'Fast is better than slow' funda.

It proudly mentions: "Google may be the only company in the world whose stated goal is to have users leave its website as quickly as possible"

So Google, contrary to other website, constantly aims at reducing the time spent on Google website...and by and large they are pretty successsful in that!

The fact that most people have not gone through the links I mentioned above confirms that... :)

I am yet to go through all the links that Google offers...but cannot wait to do so...for next couple of days, I will use Google - but not for search; just to read 'About Google'