If you need any evidence that those Google guys aren’t as smart as you think, consider this: Google is going to crack down on the use of its brand as a verb, as in "I googled you." To quote a representative of their company, ""We think it’s important to make the distinction between using the word ‘Google’ to describe using Google to search the Internet and using the word ‘google’ to generally describe searching the Internet. It has some serious trademark issues."
I’ll bet Yahoo! wouldn’t mind if users started using their brand in this same generic, but ubiquitous way. And it sure hasn’t hurt Steve Jobs that the iPod has become synonymous with personal mp3 players, and that activities like "podcasting" liberally use the brand. In fact, it cements iPod as the industry standard, and clearly encourages consumers to buy their devices rather than a less-known competitor.
It’s called hi-jacking the brand, and it’s something we’ve discussed in this space before. As consumers become more and more empowered to take control of their media and entertainment lives, these quirky, casual references will become even more common (as in, "I tivoed ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ last night").
Hey, Google. Figure it out. (Plus, you can’t stop it anyway.)
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Phil Evans says
kleenex, zipper, aspirin, xerox, escalator.
olympics
‘edge’
Once you lose the capital at the beginning of the word, you lose the exclusive rights.
What if Google wants to launch a line of clothing (would it be “search and where?”)