Have you noticed anything different with Google search page lately? Well, unless you are too busy in just sprinting ahead to find out what you want to search via Google, you would have noticed a Google Chrome ad banner. As the news of Opera 10.5 Alpha comes out making it the fastest browser, even faster then Chrome, Google has come out with full-force to deliver Chrome to the masses. At least to those who use Google as a search engine.
Two things to observe here in terms of Google’s strategy shift: First, Google always wanted to keep their search page minimalistic. They brought-in the fade-in effect lately to step further towards this end. Now, to place a Chrome banner right on this page is a kind of a step away from this strategy, isn’t it?
Secondly, Google.com being web’s most visited webpage renders Chrome ad an unprecedented advantage over anything that has been advertised online in past. Whether it’s an unfair advantage or a monopolistic strategy is up for debates, if this move doesn’t bring Chrome some plaudits worth winning then I am not sure what will.
Okay now if you have a little look at how this is being used you’ll not be surprised to find out that Google is trying to break Microsoft’s browser users and bring them to Chrome. This is how the ad placement is working at the moment-
If you come from Firefox, Opera , or Safari You see the ‘Google Packs’ promotion and not the Chrome ad. While if you come from IE, you’ll most certainly be shown the ad. Of course, you won’t see the ad if you are already a Chrome user. What this does, apart from promoting Chrome to IE users, is to put the brand name ‘Chrome’ in front of IE/Windows users to warm them for teh upcoming Chrome OS rolling out next year. Smart, huh!