Google Uses YouTube Clips To Hype Chrome
This story was written by Tameka Kee.
*Google* doesn't really advertise its productsits business is to get other people to advertise theirs. So when the company takes the time and money to heavily promote something (in this case, *Google* has turned to YouTube to hype its browser, Chrome) people tend to notice. The last product Google (NSDQ: GOOG) went out of its way to promote was its free phone directory service, GOOG-411. People spotted billboards for the service in random places like relatively rural Olean, N.Y. and downtown San Francisco (via SEL).
The new Chrome Shorts channel on YouTube features 11 videos. Google commissioned indie illustrators and creative shops to make the shorts, setting the budget for each clip at about $10,000, according to AdAge. The Chrome Shorts will get "featured video" status on the YouTube homepage, with possible appearances as display ads around the web in the coming weeks.
Google made it a point to not call out Chrome's rivals in the clips. The videos hone in on the browser's own features in quirky ways (like comparing it to a pet or a roller coaster ride of knowledge), but it's clear that the company needs to drum up some new buzz if it wants to gain market share. Google launched Chrome last year amid much hype, but it hasn't translated to widespread adoption: its market share lingers at about 1.23 percent (per NetApplications), compared to *Microsoft* IE's nearly 67 percent and Mozilla Firefox's 22 percent.
By Tameka Kee