It was a little over a year ago that Google introduced Chrome. The aim was to create a much more efficient Internet browsing experience. Given the fact that they now have more than 40 million active users, it’s safe to say they have accomplished that goal. However, Google isn’t going to stop there.

They now have plans to release an Operating System (or OS) in the second half of 2010. The goal, once again, is efficiency. This time, however, it’s aimed at getting personal computer users (or PC users) ON to the Internet much faster. Google has recognized that most PC owners only press the power button for one thing; the Internet.

For some owners it can take minutes to turn on their PC before they have the opportunity to open their email. This is a waste of time. In fact, much of the items your computer is loading throughout the boot process are never even used! Again, this is a waste of time. Google, in an effort to reduce wait times, has created an OS for PC users that will bypass all of the unnecessary hoopla and get right to the point -- the Internet. They call it Chromium OS.

The beautiful part about Chromium OS is that it will only take 4 seconds to boot-up your PC! Unbelievable? Take a look:

Anyone familiar with the Internet, knows about Google. The word is ubiquitous. You check your Gmail. You watch a movie on Google Video. You check the headlines with Google News. You speak to friends and family with Google (Video) Chat. You use Google Maps. You Google and have been Googled. When a company’s name is used as a verb, you can bet it’s top dog in its industry. Well, almost anyway.

Many people aren’t familiar with the name Baidu. Baidu is a search engine that provides an index of over 740 million web pages, 80 million images, and 10 million multi-media files. Baidu is Chinese for “hundreds of times”. Baidu’s content is controlled by the People’s Republic of China. Baidu maintains a 59% share of the Chinese market.

Google is in 2nd place with only 30%.

Recently the 2 companies have made joint headlines because Google has suggested it’s bowing out of China altogether. This would mean big things for Baidu as the fragmented audience carries with it an inherent value of $500 million. That $500 million, believe it or not, only accounts for 2% of Google’s overall revenue. In other words, it’s rice.

Google insists this is about censorship, and the recent hacking of intellectual property. While those are 2 very valid issues, the question remains; who cares? The truth is that there is no reason for a company like Google to toil away with something that accounts for only 2% of it’s total revenue. Forget the headache, and concentrate on other things – like, launching a mobile phone.

That’s all it’s about. Money. That’s it. Much like the Republic of China serving it’s people, so too does Google of it’s investors. Former head of Google China has said that there was no way anyone could surpass Baidu in the market. As a corporation responsible for the wealth of it’s investors, it’s time to pull out. That’s all there is to it.

Tone down the moral and human rights victory talk.

Sorry Google, you’ve been Baidu-ed.

Barack Obama became a media machine during his presidential campaign in 2008. It was evident that his advisers understood the importance of video and the impact it could make on voters throughout the country. On the night of October 29, 2008 Barack Obama and his campaign team ran an infomercial to target their demographic -- the average American.

To hammer it all home they ran the infomercial during prime time. They knew the demographic would be watching and the infomercial would illustrate Obama’s vision:

The Production Value or PV is tremendous and the video does a good job of tugging on the emotional strings of the 33.5 million viewers that tuned in. (http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE49T8QI20081031 )

Small to medium size businesses can easily have the same impact on their target demographic. Most websites use passive text to introduce their products and services, however, Obama demonstrates how engaging video can be through the power of persuasion. Your audience will most likely be smaller than Obama’s, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have the same impact.

How persuasive are you with your product or service?

Blair

I thought it might be fun to give some interesting tidbits of information about some of our videos. To start I present you with the Did You Know for Born Losers.

Did you know….?

• The stars of the video, Noah Cappe and Keri West, are a couple in real life!
• Noah Cappe is a rising star! He’s been featured in commercials for Budweiser, Fallsview Casino, Futureshop, Motts Clamato, and even has his own page on IMDb.
• The “drug dealer” in the video is none other than our good friend Adam Desroches. He is also the man at the end of the video driving the truck.
• The “cocaine” in the video was actually cream of tartar.
• Keri is “snorting” the cocaine off of Matthew Good’s book, “At Last There Is Nothing Left To Say.”
• The video was shot entirely in Midland, Ontario in one afternoon.