The following post is a blog review for the Fortune 500 business blogging Wiki. I will be reviewing the Official Google blog. The blog will be judged in eight areas. Each area will be ranked on a scale of 1-10 in order of how well the blog is written.
The mission of the Google blog: “Insights to Googlers about our products, technology, and the Google culture.”
Ease of Finding: 6. Despite being the most popular search engine (and Web site?) on the Internet, Google’s Official blog is surprisingly more difficult to find than it needs to be. There is no link on the front page, and there isn’t any reference to an “Official Google Blog” in Google’s upper tool bar. However, It comes up as the first Google search entry when you type in “Google blog” and loads automatically if you type it into your web browser.
Frequency: 8. Google does a pretty good job of posting frequently. They generally post once every day and occasionally post two or three entries in a day. However there are times when Google doesn’t post an entry for two or three days.
Engaging Writing: 8. The Official Google blog has a few different authors, but most of their posts are clean, fairly concise, and error free. However, the content on the blog isn’t always compelling.
Focused: 6. The posts typically fall under the rubric of “products, technology, and the Google culture,” but the mission statement of the blog is too broad in itself. One post might be centered around Google’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, but the next post might be a how-to guide. Google’s blog could benefit greatly from being a little more focused.
Relevant: 8. The posts stick pretty close to the subject’s header, and all the links tend to be relevant.
Honest: 5. Google does provide a note at the bottom of a post whenever they change something on their site, but it’s hard to give Google too many points in this area when they don’t allow users to comment on (and therefore respond to) their posts.
Social Interaction design (interactive): 1. Even though Google close to the center of the Web 2.0 revolution, it has completely disregarded one of the main tenants of social media. Google’s Official blog does not allow readers to comment on blog entries. Audience interaction is key in maintaining a blog; otherwise, the blog is nothing more than an electronic journal.
Responsiveness: 1. If you don’t allow users to leave comments, how can you expect to address your reader’s concerns about a particular issue?
Overall: Google earns 43 points out of 80. The blog could benefit from being more focused and easier to find, but not being interactive takes away from what blogs are about. A lack of consumer input defeats most of the purpose that a corporate blog is supposed to have (issues of transparency and customer trust come to mind).
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Google is an Internet pioneer, so I was surprised to hear that it does not allow people to post comments. Thank you for writing this insightful review, Bryan.
I’m just surprised they didn’t called Bloogle.
I learned here today. I came on this site for a homework assignment. Google is the site I use to search everything. Reading your blog help me understand what a blog should be. Thanks for the insight. I wonder why Google do not let users post responses to their blogs. Could it be for fear of too many posts?
@Tiffany,
I know! When I was first browsing their blog, I thought my browser wasn’t displaying the page right. I guess when pioneers get too big, they start to overlook the small things that make them great.
@Sean,
I know. I’ve been thinking about creating a ‘Bloogle’ logo for them.
@Jafujay
Thanks for stopping by! Sometimes, bigger companies are fearful of readers who don’t necessarily have anything nice to say about their company. Companies that blog successfully, however, realize that being transparent and responsive (in a positive manner) are the best tools to bolster public image.
hh. strange..