Now Google has just launched another search tool, Insights for Search, which is supposed to help advertisers and marketers better understand searcher behavior.
Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Land explains how it works: "The tool offers a comprehensive set of statistics based on search volume and patters. You can compare seasonal trends, geographic distributions, and category-specific searches, and you can group all these variables together to get extremely specific. In addition, Google allows you see "rising searches" overall or in a specific filter that you have set up." Schwartz adds that the tool is a "huge extension to Google Trends, Google Ad Planner, and the tools available within AdWords to advertisers."
So what's the downside? Social media expert Chris Brogan has a cautionary tale on his blog that illustrates what happens if you put all your smaller business eggs in the Google basket.
Brogan's co-worker, Nick Saber suddenly couldnt get into his Gmail account. But that's not all: He couldn't get into anything that required account credentials. That meant Google Talk, Google Docs and the additional storage he pays for. Saber sent a bunch of e-mails and after a while and a lot of effort, he got back in. But the experience is a sobering one for anyone who is dependent on the Google world of apps to run their smaller business.
Do you use and (or all) of Google's Apps? What's your experience? Let us know in the comments.
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