

The best thing about the Google ad - bdr

It seems like a lot of people who aren't in tech see all websites, even if they're useful, as somehow frivolous. As though working at Google (or Facebook or...) must be nice, but it's not helping the world in a serious way. The importance of Google's Superbowl ad, for me, is that it made the case to a mass audience that all this web stuff can be <i>good</i>. Like, morally good; it makes the world better. I think this is something that a lot of us who work on websites believe, but I've had trouble talking about it with, for example, friends who work at nonprofits. They would see what I was saying, but somehow remain skeptical, and I think the ad made a more convincing case than I ever did. So for all of us who are web developers, it's like the ad publicly legitimized our work to some degree. Not that we needed it, but it's nice, and I think it's an important effect of the ad. So thanks, Google.
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patio11
_They would see what I was saying, but somehow remain skeptical, and I think
the ad made a more convincing case than I ever did._

The key to convincing a skeptical person of this is to take something they
value and demonstrate how you improve it.

For example, you can show how the web makes their fundraising operation more
efficient, allowing them to kill less trees, raise more money, and spend less
time on it and more time on feeding the hungry (or whatever). Or how improved
teaching tools help beleaguered inner city teachers spend less of their time
doing prep work and more of their time directly interacting with their kids,
while being less burdensome on the budget. Or on how democratization of
information/communication is helping people become less reliant on the
grapevine (which might give outdated or just-plain-wrong advice) and more
reliant on reliable sources such as _cough_ your friends on subjects of major
importance to their lives, such as whether they are eligible for a particular
benefits program. Underapplication due to ignorance of procedure/eligibility
is a major longstanding issue for people who worry about making it easy to
apply for government benefits, and the easy access of information to that net-
enabled communication is easing that markedly. (I am not necessarily in the
group of people who is particularly motivated by this argument, but your
friends might be.)

For example, check for EITC on Twitter or Google.

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momoro
Another upside, and this is obviously what google intended, is that ads like
that help those of us in markets where people might not think to search for
solutions to their problems.

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novum
But there's a flipside to everything. The EFF is using this ad as an argument
for search privacy, since the ad clearly demonstrates how a user's searches
potentially reveal his identity.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1111246>

If anything, it shows how "don't be evil" is subject to interpretation. A
healthy skepticism of Google is still a good thing.

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friism
I thought the ad notable for the blatant cosmopolitanism of the world it
envisions. Remember that less than 30% of Americans have passports and sodding
of to France and marrying a frog-eater (of all things!) is likely not at the
top of most peoples todo-list.

Having said that, I agree with Googles vision of the world, and I thought the
ad was great.

~~~
patio11
Americans can (and do) travel abroad without having a passport, because their
nation enjoys an extraordinarily close relationship with its two geographic
neighbors.

There are about a hundred thousand French in America in the workforce. Most
are married to Americans. There are about a hundred thousand Americans in
France. It is one of the top ten destinations for Americans abroad.
Intermarriage is pretty common in the United States. A very short list would
include the mother of the President, the brother of the last President (who is
a permanent candidate for next Republican nominee), and the last unsuccessful
Democratic nominee.

America is by any objective measurement one of the most tolerant countries on
the planet. The only reason it does not roflstomp to the top of the lists
maintained by NGOs for it is that, curiously for organizations theoretically
dedicated to tolerance of cultures not their own, they dock America points for
having so many religious people. (No, really.
[http://www.economist.com/world/united-
states/printerfriendly...](http://www.economist.com/world/united-
states/printerfriendly.cfm?story_id=15108634))

Returning you now to your regularly scheduled depictions of the United States
as a closeminded society.

~~~
jff
He wasn't saying "Yeah right Americans hate the French", the real point is
that most of the audience for that commercial is not going to study in Paris
and may never leave North America--trans-oceanic flights aren't cheap.

However, the commercial was "cute" and it definitely got the awww factor from
the women present when it came on. Tip to advertisers: wedding proposals and
babies make all the girls I know completely lose it, so way to go Google.

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CamperBob
The problem I had with the spot is, anyone who can read that fast probably
already knows all about Google.

~~~
InclinedPlane
Really? I'd be more concerned about a guy who somehow managed to travel to
Paris, fall in love, get married, and have a child in less than a minute.

~~~
nostrademons
Sounds like a Google interview question. "How many women does it take to have
a baby in less than a minute?"

With a followup of "How would you schedule these women to avoid the
possibility of conflicts?"

