What Would Google Do? audiobook cover - Reverse engineering the world's fastest growing company

What Would Google Do?

Reverse engineering the world's fastest growing company

Jeff Jarvis

★ 3.9 / 5(43 ratings)
Start ListeningDownload App
Categories:
Entrepreneurship

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

Listen to What Would Google Do? — Free Audiobook

Loading player...

Key Takeaways from What Would Google Do?

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from What Would Google Do?

Mind Map

What Would Google Do?
Customer Engagement+
Radical Transparency+
The Link Economy+
New Business Models+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 10
According to the author's experience with Dell, what is the most effective way for companies to handle customer feedback in the internet age?
  • A. Require customers to submit complaints exclusively through the company's official website.
  • B. Ignore online rants until they blow over to avoid drawing attention.
  • C. Monitor online discussions, talk to unhappy customers, and fix their problems.
  • D. Threaten legal action against bloggers who post negative reviews.
Question 2 of 10
How does Google use 'beta' releases to its advantage?
  • A. To sell unfinished products at a premium price before the official launch.
  • B. To let customers test experimental products and provide feedback to improve them.
  • C. To keep competitors guessing about what their final product will look like.
  • D. To avoid liability for software bugs and crashes.
Question 3 of 10
What is the recommended approach for a company or public figure when a mistake is exposed online?
  • A. Dismiss the critics as politically motivated or biased.
  • B. Ignore the controversy until the public's attention shifts elsewhere.
  • C. Openly admit the mistake, take corrective action, and thank those who pointed it out.
  • D. Deny the mistake to protect the brand's reputation and stock price.
Question 4 of 10
Which of the following strategies is recommended to make a website more 'Google-friendly' and increase traffic?
  • A. Adding complex animations and background sounds to engage visitors.
  • B. Presenting simple, clear information that directly answers common user queries.
  • C. Keeping content brief and vague to encourage users to call customer service.
  • D. Hiding keywords in invisible text to manipulate search algorithms.
Question 5 of 10
How has the ability to link content online changed the structure of media and journalism?
  • A. It forces journalists to write longer articles with extensive background paragraphs.
  • B. It allows media outlets to specialize and link to other sites for background or niche coverage.
  • C. It requires newspapers to hire more specialist reporters for every niche topic.
  • D. It isolates websites from one another, making collaboration impossible.
Question 6 of 10
Why did Google allow other websites to freely embed and build applications on top of Google Maps?
  • A. To encourage businesses to invest in the platform, making it the industry standard.
  • B. Because they lacked the resources to develop their own applications.
  • C. To legally avoid responsibility for inaccurate mapping data.
  • D. Because they planned to charge a massive subscription fee once users were hooked.
Question 7 of 10
How has the Internet affected the concept of the 'mass market'?
  • A. It has consolidated all consumers into a single, uniform mass market.
  • B. It has made it impossible for large companies like Wal-Mart to survive.
  • C. It has replaced the mass market with an infinite number of highly specialized niches.
  • D. It has forced small businesses to abandon niche products in favor of generic ones.
Question 8 of 10
Despite selling physical goods, Amazon is described as primarily being in the 'knowledge business.' What does this mean?
  • A. They exclusively sell books, encyclopedias, and educational materials.
  • B. They use customer data and purchase history to predict needs and refine offerings.
  • C. They manufacture all their own products based on secret industry knowledge.
  • D. They require customers to pass a quiz before purchasing certain items.
Question 9 of 10
What was the result of the New York Times erecting a paywall on its website in 2005?
  • A. It led to record-breaking profits and became their permanent business model.
  • B. It significantly increased their Google ranking by making content exclusive.
  • C. It likely resulted in dismal profits, and reversing it brought back traffic and ad revenue.
  • D. It forced competitors to also charge for news, creating a unified premium market.
Question 10 of 10
Why does the author recommend tapping into online discussions over using traditional focus groups?
  • A. Online discussions are legally protected and cannot be sued for defamation.
  • B. Focus groups are more likely to steal a company's intellectual property.
  • C. Online commenters are usually paid professionals who provide better data.
  • D. People discussing products online already care and have genuine experiences to share.

What Would Google Do? — Full Chapter Overview

What Would Google Do? Summary & Overview

The age of the Internet has dawned, but very few companies seem to understand how profoundly it has changed the business landscape and what they must do to thrive. The most obvious exception? Google. What Would Google Do? endeavors to explain what strategic choices fuel the success of Google and other web 2.0 companies like Amazon.

Who Should Listen to What Would Google Do??

  • Anyone who wants to learn the secrets to the success of Google and other web 2.0 companies
  • Anyone who wants to drive more traffic to their websites
  • Anyone who wants to emulate Google’s strategy in their own business

About the Author: Jeff Jarvis

Jeff Jarvis is an American journalist, academic and advocate for the Open Web. He has written for the San Francisco Examiner and the Guardian, and currently heads the new media program of City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism.

🎧
Listen in the AppOffline playback & background play
Get App