Searchblog reader Brad Twohig, based in the midwest, is seeing a promotion for Google Video Store and Pack on the home page. He queries: “It would be one thing if they were using the NBA and CSI as a promo to get people to just use Google Video, but it is paid content they are promoting and thus I view it as their first Homepage advertisement. It has no images like Yahoo’s but it is still a promotion for a VOD product.”
I don’t see this promotion here in California. Do others see it around the country and the world?
Update: One reader posits that this is a Mac thing. I bet that’s right.
I see this in Boston, MA. I agree this is indeed a text ad on the homepage of Google, albeit for their own product (their video network).
http://www.dollardays.com
I am in California, too, and I see it.
I suppose you could make the argument that Google isn’t really “advertising”, because they’re just talking about other aspects of the entire Google service/experience, paid or not. There is a “Froogle” link up top, too.. but that’s not really advertising.
However, if that’s the approach one takes to justify it, it really starts to feel like a Microsoftian integration of IE into Windows, y’know what I mean? People don’t necessarily have to use IE. But by MS bundling it so tightly with the rest of their services, most people do use IE anyway.
So one way or the other, this is indeed either advertising, or it is Google’s equivalent of “bundling”.
Way to go, Google.
I’m in New York. I see it.
I am in Connecticut, and I see it now (12:36pm EST).
-james
Invisible in France (probably limited to US only)
PS: Marissa Meyer did say in her post for AOL on Google’s blog that no partner (AOL in that case) would be favored by Google in its avdertising systems and pages
It seems that it is already no longer the case….
Not in Atlanta, GA
I can see it on my PC at work, but not on my Mac sitting right next to it. I’m guessing that this promotion is aimed at the PC users of the world, since neither service is supported for macs yet….(this holds up since we know how much of mac bigot John is 😉 )
I see it in Seattle. Facinating to see the morphing of their business, and customer experience. I still wonder what all the fuss is about regarding video, Singingfish (purchased by AOL) has had video search since ’99 and does a pretty good job at it. Much better than the Google experience. AOL just doesn’t market it very well.
It’s a bit of a stretch to say that they are favoring partners. What they are really doing here is advertising Google video. They have always advertised their own services on their homepage with a simple text link. This is not new. They have even used that space to highlight special info, such as for hurricane katrina, and the tsunami. It makes sense to highlight the better quality content on google video to advertise the new feature. (any individual or company would do the same) Notice they linked to Google video, not directly to the cbs or nba content.
Come on guys, Google is far from perfect, but why pick at a small speck of dust.
We are also seeing it in North Carolina. Hmmm, I wonder how much it would cost to have our company showing on the home page. I can’t count that high!!
I see it in San Francisco.
I see the Google Video ad on my Windows XP PC in San Rafael,
CA (Northern).
Also visible in IE7, look at the second screenshot of the seroundtable post you mention in your last post, The Politics Of A Search War
I’m in Fort Worth, Texas and I see the CSI and NBA ad as well! So Google is getting Evil! Look here …
http://evilornot.info/
Seeing it in VA on a PC…
I see it in Philadelphia on a PC.
Don’t see it in India using a Mac, but no surprise because Google also says that “Video Playback is not enabled for your country yet”.
I don’t know about “evil or not,” but let’s contrast this to what Marissa Myer, Google’s high priestess of simplicity, recently declared to Fast Company:
“… “I’m the gatekeeper,” she says cheerfully. “I have to say no to a lot of people.” … Mayer holds them at bay with a smile and strict standards… To make it to the home page, a new service needs to be so compelling that it will garner millions of page views per day…”
Is Google video already there? Or are the ‘strict standards’ bending?
John
Sent to prior comments … may have been screened out
Anyway
Since your first post
1) not showing on Charter Communications (ISP) on Mac OS 10.3 Firefox 1.5 or on Safari
(Northern Mich)
2) now on Comcast ISP (both Charter and Comcast being highspeed cable broadband) with same machine (Powerbook G4)
(Mid Mich)
No sign of the link on either browser
Just feedback to you
United Kingdom – has certainly not appeared on our Macs. Use Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Corvallis, Oregon. I only see it on Windows.