Google, like Germany in 1944, is fighting wars on two fronts.

On one side they are taking on the might of Facebook’s LIKE button with their new GOOGLE + 1. The idea is that anyone that has a Google account can click on a little icon, showing their friends and associates that they found a particular search engine result, webpage or item, helpful, entertaining or interesting.
On the other front, Google are taking on the might of Microsoft and their coveted  Windows Operating System with Chrome Desktop.

A few blogs a go I alerted the world to an important birthday that seemed to go largely unnoticed; that of Facebook’s LIKE button. Well Google has shown their hand and has delivered the GOOGLE +1 button to the world. As i’m a two finger typist, I’ll let Google’s video explain how it works:

Go on, try it:

So basically it’s a like button, but critically without a social network- at this stage. One thing it has going in its favour though is it’s link to the Holy Grail of online marketing; the Google organic search results. In its most simplistic form, you’d assume that the more +1’s a site gets, the more favourable Google will rank it. It would do something that the Google algorithm does not; validates a website or search engine result with human eyes. All the SEO trickery in the world won’t matter to actual people viewing the site. They want to be informed or entertained; which brings me back to what i’ve always been saying about SEO. Write for people first, search engines second!

One worrying point for many will be that Google’s personalised results won’t just be based on your browsing habits, but now by those of your friends and colleagues. This means that instead of profiling all of its users individually, it will soon be able to profile millions of groups, and billions of sub-groups. No longer will they see their browsing world as alot of individuals, but instead as interlinked masses. The data generated would be an economists dream and an advertisers wet dream.

Will the Google’s +1 button worry Facebook? Not just yet.

Should you have one on your site? Yes.

Google’s Chromebook  vs Microsoft Windows (and Mac OSX, Linux, etc)

A few years ago, many business experts loudly declared that Google should stick to search, that they know nothing about software, and they shouldn’t bother with a their own browser. In the words of one journalist from the Wall Street Journal, they had become a “...search company with a lot of needless distractions...” and that soon “...the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo will jump on this lack of focus, and challenge their domination of the search market.”

Well, Google still owns search. It has now become clear that Google is seeking ownership of your computer, your files and their storage and the way you do business.
It turns out that the cloud is the foundation of this plan. One of the first computers to run Chromebook will be the Acer Cromia AC761, which will be available in the United States from the 15th of July. It will be incredibly fast, booting in 10 seconds (seriously). There would be no more pesky software updates either, so what’s not to love?
The way a Chromebook powered computer would work is by all of its software, including browser, being served to it through the internet, saving hard-drive space, processing power and increasing battery life to 8 hours.  The hardware would be alot cheaper, and there would be no Microsoft fees!

Here's the Chromebook video:

So seriously, what’s not to love?

Firstly, it’s not cheap.  Google are saying that after you purchase the computer (between €299 and €420), you’ll need to pay between €21 and €23 per month for their data plan and access to apps, with a 3 year minimum contract term. That is a total spend of €1127 to €1248 assuming there are no additional data charges or ‘premium’ application charges. That is a whole lot of money for what is basically a netbook that you could buy now for £260 including Windows 7.

The second problem I see is security. All, and I mean all, of your important documents will exist in the somewhere else. Right now, your precious memories, employment contracts and other important documents are sitting on a hard drive underneath your laptop keyboard, behind the screen on your Mac, or in the PC under your desk. If you move your data to new computer, you can wipe all data off your old drive, drop it in the bath, or hit it with a hammer...

In the cloud, when it’s deleted, is it really gone? A few days ago I wouldn’t have been so worried about security. I mean, it’s Google right? Those guys spend millions on security teams across the globe? A few days ago, Google uncovered a massive hack of the Gmail accounts US diplomats from within China. Gmail lives on the cloud.

Two lessons here:
No system is ‘hack proof’ and
Don’t piss off the Chinese

I also tend to think that too many clients of Neo Marketing aren’t only using office applications and a web browser. A surveyor uses CAD, a financial advisor uses Fourex, a singer uses Soundbooth, and we use Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Indesign, Premiere Pro etc etc etc.
So, will Google’s Chromebook OS kick the crap out of Microsoft’s Windows? Not for a long while.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to +1 this article. I want to get in Google’s good books.