4 ms·

The best thing about the Google ad

14 points by bdr 17y ago

It seems like a lot of people who aren't in tech see all websites, even if they're useful, as somehow frivolous. As though working at Google (or Facebook or...) must be nice, but it's not helping the world in a serious way. The importance of Google's Superbowl ad, for me, is that it made the case to a mass audience that all this web stuff can be good. Like, morally good; it makes the world better. I think this is something that a lot of us who work on websites believe, but I've had trouble talking about it with, for example, friends who work at nonprofits. They would see what I was saying, but somehow remain skeptical, and I think the ad made a more convincing case than I ever did. So for all of us who are web developers, it's like the ad publicly legitimized our work to some degree. Not that we needed it, but it's nice, and I think it's an important effect of the ad. So thanks, Google.

CamperBob 17y ago
The problem I had with the spot is, anyone who can read that fast probably already knows all about Google.
- InclinedPlane 17y ago
  Really? I'd be more concerned about a guy who somehow managed to travel to Paris, fall in love, get married, and have a child in less than a minute.
  - nostrademons 17y ago
    Sounds like a Google interview question. "How many women does it take to have a baby in less than a minute?" With a followup of "How would you schedule these women to avoid the possibility of conflicts?"
- jdietrich 17y ago
  Honestly, I couldn't care less. For me, the ad was a watershed moment; A tech company just coming out and saying "What we're doing is miraculous. We're not going to bamboozle you with glitter and dancing girls, we're just going to show you.". We all know how important evangelism can be. Everyone on HN has been asked for their opinion or advice by a non-techie. This ad could have a more powerful effect by talking to us, by galvanising support and driving home to Google fans just how damned important their technology is. I think perhaps you underestimate the general population, but I don't think it matters much either way.
novum 17y ago
But there's a flipside to everything. The EFF is using this ad as an argument for search privacy, since the ad clearly demonstrates how a user's searches potentially reveal his identity. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1111246 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1111246 If anything, it shows how "don't be evil" is subject to interpretation. A healthy skepticism of Google is still a good thing.
momoro 17y ago
Another upside, and this is obviously what google intended, is that ads like that help those of us in markets where people might not think to search for solutions to their problems.
friism 17y ago
I thought the ad notable for the blatant cosmopolitanism of the world it envisions. Remember that less than 30% of Americans have passports and sodding of to France and marrying a frog-eater (of all things!) is likely not at the top of most peoples todo-list. Having said that, I agree with Googles vision of the world, and I thought the ad was great.
- patio11 17y ago
  Americans can (and do) travel abroad without having a passport, because their nation enjoys an extraordinarily close relationship with its two geographic neighbors. There are about a hundred thousand French in America in the workforce. Most are married to Americans. There are about a hundred thousand Americans in France. It is one of the top ten destinations for Americans abroad. Intermarriage is pretty common in the United States. A very short list would include the mother of the President, the brother of the last President (who is a permanent candidate for next Republican nominee), and the last unsuccessful Democratic nominee. America is by any objective measurement one of the most tolerant countries on the planet. The only reason it does not roflstomp to the top of the lists maintained by NGOs for it is that, curiously for organizations theoretically dedicated to tolerance of cultures not their own, they dock America points for having so many religious people. (No, really. http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/printerfriendly.cfm?story_id=15108634 http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/printerfriendly...) Returning you now to your regularly scheduled depictions of the United States as a closeminded society.
  - jff 17y ago
    He wasn't saying "Yeah right Americans hate the French", the real point is that most of the audience for that commercial is not going to study in Paris and may never leave North America--trans-oceanic flights aren't cheap. However, the commercial was "cute" and it definitely got the awww factor from the women present when it came on. Tip to advertisers: wedding proposals and babies make all the girls I know completely lose it, so way to go Google.
patio11 17y ago
They would see what I was saying, but somehow remain skeptical, and I think the ad made a more convincing case than I ever did. The key to convincing a skeptical person of this is to take something they value and demonstrate how you improve it. For example, you can show how the web makes their fundraising operation more efficient, allowing them to kill less trees, raise more money, and spend less time on it and more time on feeding the hungry (or whatever). Or how improved teaching tools help beleaguered inner city teachers spend less of their time doing prep work and more of their time directly interacting with their kids, while being less burdensome on the budget. Or on how democratization of information/communication is helping people become less reliant on the grapevine (which might give outdated or just-plain-wrong advice) and more reliant on reliable sources such as cough your friends on subjects of major importance to their lives, such as whether they are eligible for a particular benefits program. Underapplication due to ignorance of procedure/eligibility is a major longstanding issue for people who worry about making it easy to apply for government benefits, and the easy access of information to that net-enabled communication is easing that markedly. (I am not necessarily in the group of people who is particularly motivated by this argument, but your friends might be.) For example, check for EITC on Twitter or Google.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

14 points by bdr 17y ago

CamperBob 17y ago

The problem I had with the spot is, anyone who can read that fast probably already knows all about Google.

InclinedPlane 17y ago
Really? I'd be more concerned about a guy who somehow managed to travel to Paris, fall in love, get married, and have a child in less than a minute.
- nostrademons 17y ago
  Sounds like a Google interview question. "How many women does it take to have a baby in less than a minute?" With a followup of "How would you schedule these women to avoid the possibility of conflicts?"
jdietrich 17y ago
Honestly, I couldn't care less. For me, the ad was a watershed moment; A tech company just coming out and saying "What we're doing is miraculous. We're not going to bamboozle you with glitter and dancing girls, we're just going to show you.". We all know how important evangelism can be. Everyone on HN has been asked for their opinion or advice by a non-techie. This ad could have a more powerful effect by talking to us, by galvanising support and driving home to Google fans just how damned important their technology is. I think perhaps you underestimate the general population, but I don't think it matters much either way.

novum 17y ago

But there's a flipside to everything. The EFF is using this ad as an argument for search privacy, since the ad clearly demonstrates how a user's searches potentially reveal his identity. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1111246 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1111246 If anything, it shows how "don't be evil" is subject to interpretation. A healthy skepticism of Google is still a good thing.

momoro 17y ago

Another upside, and this is obviously what google intended, is that ads like that help those of us in markets where people might not think to search for solutions to their problems.

friism 17y ago

I thought the ad notable for the blatant cosmopolitanism of the world it envisions. Remember that less than 30% of Americans have passports and sodding of to France and marrying a frog-eater (of all things!) is likely not at the top of most peoples todo-list. Having said that, I agree with Googles vision of the world, and I thought the ad was great.

patio11 17y ago
Americans can (and do) travel abroad without having a passport, because their nation enjoys an extraordinarily close relationship with its two geographic neighbors. There are about a hundred thousand French in America in the workforce. Most are married to Americans. There are about a hundred thousand Americans in France. It is one of the top ten destinations for Americans abroad. Intermarriage is pretty common in the United States. A very short list would include the mother of the President, the brother of the last President (who is a permanent candidate for next Republican nominee), and the last unsuccessful Democratic nominee. America is by any objective measurement one of the most tolerant countries on the planet. The only reason it does not roflstomp to the top of the lists maintained by NGOs for it is that, curiously for organizations theoretically dedicated to tolerance of cultures not their own, they dock America points for having so many religious people. (No, really. http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/printerfriendly.cfm?story_id=15108634 http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/printerfriendly...) Returning you now to your regularly scheduled depictions of the United States as a closeminded society.
- jff 17y ago
  He wasn't saying "Yeah right Americans hate the French", the real point is that most of the audience for that commercial is not going to study in Paris and may never leave North America--trans-oceanic flights aren't cheap. However, the commercial was "cute" and it definitely got the awww factor from the women present when it came on. Tip to advertisers: wedding proposals and babies make all the girls I know completely lose it, so way to go Google.

patio11 17y ago

They would see what I was saying, but somehow remain skeptical, and I think the ad made a more convincing case than I ever did. The key to convincing a skeptical person of this is to take something they value and demonstrate how you improve it. For example, you can show how the web makes their fundraising operation more efficient, allowing them to kill less trees, raise more money, and spend less time on it and more time on feeding the hungry (or whatever). Or how improved teaching tools help beleaguered inner city teachers spend less of their time doing prep work and more of their time directly interacting with their kids, while being less burdensome on the budget. Or on how democratization of information/communication is helping people become less reliant on the grapevine (which might give outdated or just-plain-wrong advice) and more reliant on reliable sources such as cough your friends on subjects of major importance to their lives, such as whether they are eligible for a particular benefits program. Underapplication due to ignorance of procedure/eligibility is a major longstanding issue for people who worry about making it easy to apply for government benefits, and the easy access of information to that net-enabled communication is easing that markedly. (I am not necessarily in the group of people who is particularly motivated by this argument, but your friends might be.) For example, check for EITC on Twitter or Google.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]