Travellers are reporting that, in many airports, connecting to Google’s free Wi-Fi redirects browsers to the Nexus One home page at http://www.google.com/phone/. Between the iPhone’s ubiquity and the Droid’s aggressive marketing campaign, Google has to think outside of the box to stay competitive in the smartphone market. Plenty of people took advantage of Google’s generous offer this holiday season, and redirecting to the Nexus One page is a surefire way to raise awareness about the new phone.
This promo comes in addition to the Nexus One banner that was displayed under Google’s search box when the phone launched earlier this week.
When Google displayed a Chrome banner on their homepage last month, we wondered if it could alter the course of the browser wars. Could their considerable influence change the status quo for smartphone advertising as well? As Google’s empire continues to expand, this type of self-promotion seems inevitable. But does it leave a bad taste in your mouth? [TechCrunch]
Justa Notherguy
Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 6:52 PM> But is it fair play, or does this self-promotion
> spoil Google’s charitable act?
Hard to say, since no other corporations – like, say, Apple, Microsoft, Palm, or RIM – offer free service. EVER.
Let’s face it: pretty much all _they_ do is sit around trying to figure out ways of making their products incompatible with everybody else’s…well, unless maybe you pay a substantial licensing fee. Once they start giving stuff away, then we’ll find out how Google compares. And I bet we’ll also find out how a pig can fly our of your butt.