Why did Google go on television to advertise?


When anti-traditional media company Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) indicated it would go on television to promote its Chrome web browser, I was befuddled. Why on Earth would the king of new media (and associated revenue) want to go to an age-old format to promote one of its most important products? Chrome, which was just released during the second half of 2008 and thus has barely any market share, seemed oddly-placed when it was released anyway. Does the world really need another web browser?



Google's entire existence right now is tied to the web browser (well, for revenue that is). That's why having its own browser product that would eventually tie into all Google products was (and is) important for the company. Those who live in the digital world these days, I may posit, probably live inside the web browser on their computer more than any other piece of software. To that end, Google wanted to make sure those watching television know about its browser product outside of the early adopter crowd who are already using it.

This isn't a standard media buy, either. Google is distributing the Google Chrome ads over its Google TV Ads platform (of course), which currently only runs over Echostar's satellite network. Google was started in the web browser and arguably is the most coveted network of websites on the planet at this time. If Google can become as ubiquitous with its web browser as it has with its search engine, only good times for the company will result. And that means going non-traditional to make sure everyone and anyone knows you can cruise Google inside a Google product -- regardless of what operating system you use on your PC.

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