Google is stalking me...I kinda like it

I'm not a complete Google fanboy, but I do respect the company and what they do. I also happen to use a lot of their products. As news rolls in about the company's recent acquisitions (most notably YouTube and Doubleclick) I wanted to come up with a format to show you just how pervasive Google is becoming.

So come on. Take a trip with me through my day with Google.

	5:45am: Ugh. The day starts to my blaring clock radio. There is an ad running that Google has sold through ClearChannel.
	6:15am: I get up, take a shower and go to the home office to check my Gmail account.
	6:45am: Once the email is done I let the dogs outside and turn on the TV. There is a spot running placed by Google.
	7:30am: I start up the car and hear another ad placed by Google.
	7:45am: Driving to work I pass 5-10 ClearChannel billboards. Probably pretty likely Google will place ads on those as well.
	8:00am: I roll into work and sit down. Having stopped at Starbucks on the way in I open the paper to see what's happening in Cleveland. Again, more ads placed by Google here too.
	8:30am: I jump online, check Google News and my GMail acccount again.
	9:00am: I surf my favorite blogs, most of them have Google AdWords placed on them even in the feeds. I am reading those feeds with Google Reader.
	9:45am: I check my copy of AdAge and see a couple more ads placed by Google.
	10:00am: Finally! I am free from...damn...it's another Google SMS alert on my phone. No peace.
	10:10am: I check the top clips on YouTube (Google owned). Hey, that's HeeHaw 1.1.
	10:30am: I continue writing a client brief in Google Docs (formerly Writely).
	11:00am: Head to the kitchen and see a couple of ads running on TV through the Dish Network which Google placed.
	12:00pm: I'm heading to lunch now, but I can't find that new trendy sandwich shop. I ask Goog411 and get the address and phone number.
	1:15pm: I am back at the office now and my phone vibrates again. I have new Gmail. I check it and respond from my phone.
	1:30pm: I am going to a meeting after work and I don't have the address yet. I turn to Google Maps and send the directions to my phone for easy access in the car.
	2:30pm: I take a break from work and veg out with an online racing game. Throughout the game are product placements and pre-rolls. Google places those too through AdScape. I wrecked and lost the game.
	2:45pm: I check my RSS feeds again through Google Reader. I go through about 150 feeds and post the best to my blog roll (it's embedded on the left column of my blog).
	3:00pm: I check on the stats for my blog over the past week using Google Analytics. Interesting to see where readers come from. Hello New Delhi!
	3:15pm: Just in surfing the web I come across 2 or 3 major sites that run Google for searching site content. MySpace is one of those.
	4:45pm: I see some display ads running on a couple of sites powered by DoubleClick's DART system. Google owns them now too. More on this development in a future post.
	5:30pm: One last check of my Gmail and I wrap up a blog post and head home.
	6:00pm: I get home, turn off the phone and sit on the couch with Copeland. Just then, the phone rings. Is that Google calling me? They certainly have my number.

As overwhelming as this may appear, I know I am missing things that Google offers. Leave me a comment with the other ways in which you are impacted by Google in your everyday life.

Technorati Tags:
marketing, Search, Google, MySpace, video, YouTube, mobile

Comments

[Gilad]

Hey,

Great Blog !

Gilad

[Matt Dickman]

Gilad -- Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm glad you like the content. Feel free to come back and stay in the conversation.

[CK]

This is absolutely terrific. I love this post...ya know, now I have to track for myself how much Google stalks me ;-).

Love the pic of Copeland and you.

[Matt Dickman]

CK -- I'm glad you like the post and the picture of Copeland. I had a lot of fun doing this post and I learned a lot from it as well. They're not pushing into my life, I'm pulling them. I'm just pulling more than I thought I was.

[Mario Vellandi]

Google is running my business email through "Apps for your domain"...I love it because it connects with my Google Desktop.
Great stuff...but like you said: they're pulling me in.

I would have used Blogger, but it's so crappy I'm happy with Wordpress. Lastly Yahoo has my heart with Flickr and great AJAXy webmail that's just cool and different.

[Paul McEnany]

That's so badass. And exactly what they're trying to do. If you're consuming, they want to be a part of it. Maybe they should open a bakery, or something?

[Matt Dickman]

Mario -- Thank you for the comment. I am the same way with Flickr, it's just better. But for almost everything else they rock! Did you see they just announced they are releasing a presentation (read PowePoint) solution? That completes their Office challenger. Will be interesting to see where this goes.

[Matt Dickman]

Paul -- Thanks for joining in! It's a great place to be if you're a company. Users clamoring to pull you in to their lives. Even the pieces that they're pushing (like radio/tv) are unobtrusive. Plus, if they're targeted to me I'll be less fed up with ads in general and probably spend more money.

[Bob Glaza]

They ARE stalking you Matt - LOL - what a great story in pictures! I especially like that you check the newspaper at 8 AM only to find Google placed ads in it :) Excellent testimony to the value of printed words! ANd Google knows it, too.

[Matt Dickman]

Bob -- Thanks for the comment and welcome to the blog! I'm glad you like the story, it took some planning on my end and some time delay photography as well. Print may be slowing down, but it's not going to disappear overnight. There is still something about flipping through a paper or magazine that is somehow satisfying.

[Mark Goren]

Really enjoyed this post, Matt. Made me laugh. Made me also realize just how pervasive Google is – and how much present they're about to become. Kudos to you for pointing it out.

The thing is, they do things right and generally seem to hit the nail on the head with just about every tool they build.

[Matt Dickman]

Mark -- I'm glad you liked the post. You're right about their method. You don't see Google pushing their way into your life. There is no real advertising. They work on the 'if you build it they will come' mentality and it works. Thanks again for joining in.

[Gavin Heaton]

I like the idea of stalking ... it gives the sense that there is someone there, just outside of your vision, watching. However, our easy acceptance of the pervasiveness of Google's reach is interesting -- I doubt we would have accepted this from many other organisations.

[Matt Dickman]

Gavin -- That's a very interesting point. I don't think many companies could get away with being this involved in people's lives. I think a lot of it comes with trust. Google (to date) hasn't done anything "evil" that would garner distrust. Hopefully they can keep innovating in a fair way and use the information they're collecting for good. Thank you for the comment.

[Ann Handley]

Great post, Matt!

"Google (to date) hasn't done anything "evil" that would garner distrust."

Evil? How could Google be evil? It has a name that's as cute as your dog, and it's logo is all preschool primary-color friendly and all... how could *anyone* distrust Google?!

; )

[Mack Collier]

Great post Matt, and the pictures really tell the story. I'm sure it took a ton of time to put that together, but looks like it was worth it based on the buzz it's generating!

[Matt Dickman]

Ann -- You're so right, they're very disarming aren't they. It will be interesting to see what they do in the future to make sure that they stay evil-free.

[Matt Dickman]

Mack -- It did take some time, but it was very fun. It took my wife 3 takes to get Copeland to sit down like that and hold still. Ah, the price of a good post. It was all worth it. Thank you for your comment!

[CK]

I'm so pleased that your wife has the patience for 3 takes and all this blogging. This is a truly great piece. And that "dog-tired" shot of Copeland and the other pup (name?)on Flickr is so good it could be on a calendar. Really.

[Jessica Grieves]

I just came across this post and it is so funny! It sounds a lot like the lives of my husband and me. I can't wait to check out the rest of your blog.

[Matt Dickman]

Jessica -- I'm glad this connects with you, I know each day I use Google more and more. I may have to do a Day 2 just to handle it all :)

[LaSandra Brill]

This is so true! And everytime I turn around I learn about a new Google app that is so good I can't help but become a user. Google Groups & Google Analytics being the latest...

[Rebkah]

Loved this post. It was written with a smile and also had a lot of info :-)