Google Merges with Facebook, 2015 Edition
Several years ago, I asked what might happen if we all awoke to the headline Google Merges with Facebook. While that particular nightmare hasn’t and most likely won’t ever come to pass, a few things have changed such that there’s illustration most everything else has stayed the same.
I was reminded of this reality a few weeks ago when ersatz Search Engine Optimization guru Barry Schwartz told his readership something we’ve been saying here since last summer; Google Authorship, while “dead”, is anything but dead.
Back then, Google did a major about-face on their handling of Authorship (big “A”), demoting it from a major, actionable, visual signal to … something they stopped commenting upon. That’s not a surprise; Google has long conducted business via an alternating “talk/don’t talk” information dispersal strategy. And I’ve picked on Barry Schwartz for his just-barely-better-late-than-never approach to Search Engine Optimization reporting before, so there’s no surprise there, either.
But the statement “Google Merges with Facebook” is becoming, if not any more accurate literally, way more accurate in a metaphorical sense. Everything you do is tied into search and your “profile(s)” whether you created them intentionally or they just evolved over time through your use of these pesky intertubes. Google is a social network. Facebook is a search engine. Google Merges with Facebook, indeed.
What are you doing about that?
If you aren’t sure, and want some help without giving a lot of thought to the matter, contact us here and we’ll put the whole thing to bed for you. If you’re more the “figure this out and act” type, read on.
As the Internet has built out to the point where everyone is using it all the time, the amount of information we’re all dealing with has grown exponentially. While “sorting and sifting it is getting harder”, has become as obvious as “fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent”, the real ramification might be less apparent:
No One Is Listening To You
Strictly speaking, that isn’t true; someone is listening (Google Merges with Facebook, remember?). But get past the growing problem of getting attention and you realize that the bigger one is keeping peoples’ attention long enough to create what’s called a conversion event.
I was speaking with a client earlier today who does some of the most beautiful presentations you’ll ever see, has been doing so for most of twenty years, and has a great reputation. Even he’s running up against this wall. His Answer-Guy-crafted solution? Stop trying to get people to listen to your big messages and concentrate instead on one small one.
What’s your small message?
That one isn’t always easy to figure out, so again, if you need help, we’re right here. Either way, thoough, there’s an important lesson to be (re)learned: this stuff is getting harder.
You’ve got a plan for when Google Merges with Facebook, right?
