The Google search engine has been part of a larger evaluation of technology and information sharing. Consumers today are used to getting an immediate response to their questions.

What Google has done with its search engine is creating a new marketplace for consumers, and this channel is becoming the premier marketplace for consumers.

There are new companies that have prospered with the entrance of Google and companies that have struggled to adapt to the changes that Google has brought.

E-commerce stores that were optimizing their website for the search engines now have a major channel generating traffic to their specific website. This gives many e-commerce stores a competitive advantage over physical brick and mortar stores.

The e-commerce store has the world as its marketplace, while the physical brick and mortar store still is limited to its location.

Consumers today are often “Googling” products for more information prior to making their purchase online or at the physical brick and mortar store.

This trend is continuously growing and today it is essential that a company rank well in its industry search terms or with its brand names. If they don’t, they assume the risk of losing their customers at the early research phase.

There is a change that has been apparent these past years on how users operate search engines. They are now searching for products more than content information on web search engines.

In observation of users’ search engine behavior, it was found that queries about popular culture and e-commerce accounted for almost half of all search engine queries.

Studies also suggest that there are no major differences in search topics for different demographics of online populations. Physical stores also had a monopoly on spontaneous purchases in the past.

The case now with all the smartphones and tablets is different, as consumers have access to all the stores online at any time of the day, which increases the likelihood of a spontaneous purchase.

The reason why it is important for businesses to succeed in the Google ecosystem is obvious. Traffic from Google equals revenue, but there is also another factor that traffic from Google creates, which is brand awareness.

Many web companies are dependent on traffic from Google to generate revenue. This is, of course, not optimal for any company to be dependent on an external entity to be profitable, but it is a hard situation for any website to avoid, as Google is the dominant player when it comes to search.

An example is the case of Yelp, which received more than half its traffic from Google. Yelp was then caught in the middle when Google launched a similar product, causing Yelp to see their referred traffic drop.

However, for a company that does not solely operate their business online, Google serves as an excellent additional channel to find customers and market the brand.

The attractive conversion rate of product-specific keywords is another factor that businesses cannot neglect. For example, a person searching for “Canon 1103 P3” is very late in the buying decision stage and is more likely to purchase the product immediately or at least very soon.

These search queries for specific product names are great opportunities for businesses to sell their products or services to consumers that already know what they want.

When it comes to brand awareness, the objective is not to sell a product, but to inform the visitor of the product or brand. Google can serve as a great marketing tool, but it can also hurt the reputation of a brand if not properly managed. The key for any company is to dominate the search results when it comes to their own brand and product names.

Businesses should control the conversation of their brands online and especially control what the potential consumers will see on the search engines when branded terms are searched for. Neglecting to do so can hurt the value of the brand and as well decrease sales.

A company should always have several satellite sites to broaden their reach and widen their net. By increasing the number of websites operating under the brand name, the first page of a brand search query can be protected.

That is the defensive part of the online strategy, also called “brand cleaning.” When it comes to offense, a good strategy is to have an open forum for consumers to discuss the product or service. By doing so the company is able to control the conversation of their brand while still letting consumers vent about their problems with the product or service.

Representatives of a company should also engage with critics on external platforms but be more restrictive since it’s a platform that cannot be controlled.

By following these strategies, a company can protect its brand online as well as set up a foundation to succeed within the Google ecosystem.