I’ve seen or heard of very little Google marketing (the only thing that comes to mind is a hoarding they put up for job seekers…)

But if we see today Google seems to have one of the best known brands on the Internet. And I think there are some really clever marketing ppl behind this. I’m really coming around to the view that Google’s slow roll-outs of Gmail and its newer versions and invitation-only betas to new products are all smart marketing tactics to create buzz around these things. Further, I refuse to believe that Google has no hand to play in all the speculation that happens around their upcoming launches.

Take for example the two most recent releases – OpenSocial and the Android/OHA mobile phone OS. I must have read hundreds of blog posts (on what else but Google Reader 🙂 ) about these 2 over the last couple of months. Should I really believe that this is all speculation and is not being fuelled by Google? I find it a little too hard to believe that.

Gmail was the first “big” launch that I remember from Google. I can still remember searching all across the Net for an invite to Gmail till I finally got one. The amount of buzz that was generated then was awesome and I think Google has successfully re-created that around OpenSocial and Android/OHA.

But whatever you say I like the things these guys are building. And if you missed the update that is being rolled out across Gmail accounts now, look out for my next post. My wife’s Gmail has been updated to the new version and as a result I spend more time in her mailbox than mine 😉