google sucks...

... at pr.

Yesterday Google added a "holysh*t" feature called Google Call to their lovely little Google Maps. What does it do? "The next time you use Google Maps to look up a business, click the new "call" link beside the phone number and Google will make the call for you - free of charge. Specifically, when you click the link, Google calls your phone and automatically connects you to the business. Doesn't matter if the call is local or long distance - Google foots the bill. Your only out-of-pocket expense is if the call gets routed to your cell phone (in which case normal airtime charges apply)."*

Seriously flippin' cool. Try it out.

Ok, now that you're convinced this is rockstar genius, ask yourself this: Why did I have to come to this blog to find about this feature? Why wasn't this headline news in newspapers, or even in top 20 stories on CNN. How come CNN can cover minute-by-minute updates on the TomKat wedding but not this? Why isn't this in the top 5 stories in WSJ's technology section?

Go peruse the Google Blog and you'll find there are hundreds of lovely little projects like this that come out on a daily basis that you'd never know existed unless you read their blog daily. And who has time to do that? I skim about 20-30 blogs on a daily basis plus at least 10 different news sites and Google Blog does not make that list.

Did you know you can type any tracking number into Google and it'll pull up your package for you? You don't even have to say FedEx vs. UPS. Google just knows. Or you can type in an zip code plus "weather" and it'll pull up the current temperature plus the 4-day outlook. Or you can type in a phone number and it'll reverse look up the info for you. And I could go on and on and on and even I don't know half the things you can do with Google.

My point is Google is an awesome company. Arguably, it's the single most useful brand out there. But how useful is something if you don't know what it can do? Same argument for my DVD player. I know it can do millions of quirky things but I have no idea what those quirky things are so I keep it simple and watch DVDs and occasionally figure out how to record something with it. But I'm missing out on features. The thing that's so awesome with Google is that you don't have to be a rocket scientist to use it if you know the features are there. With my DVD player, I'm pretty sure a PHD in advanced computer science and nerdery is required for full-operation.

So, people continue to use Google's competitors at ridiculous rates. They miss out on a superior product but they don't care because they don't know it. To them, a search engine is a search engine because the leader in search engine technology isn't telling them anything different. If you have a superior product you should be shouting from the tops of rooftops. Hoping people will just sort of find out and gravitate your way is too old school. People don't have time for that anymore.

If you're awesome, people generally know it. But if you're number 1, shout it from the rooftops. There's a reason they chant it at sports games.

* courtesy of Lifehacker.com