It is interesting how monopolized brand names can find their way into our vocabulary. Even store-brand tissues are referred to as Kleenex. Now, you “Google” something when you look for it online. Someone asked the other day if it was possible to protect the design of a website as intellectual property. Most people claimed it was impossible; after thinking more deeply about Google, I have to disagree.
Google has the most basic and simple interface of any search engine I have seen. But frequent users know there is much more to Google than www.google.com. Like many people, I have a Gmail account. I also use Google Analytics and Adsense for my personal blog. Anyone in marketing and advertising has heard of Google AdWords.
My peers use Google Docs and Spreadsheet rather than Microsoft Office, and I know several people with websites designed through Google Pages. Someone told me recently that Google is trying to move out of the virtual marketplace with a Google Phone. Google is obviously a very successful business and incredibly reputable brand.
But why?
It was not that long ago that everyone had their own search engine. The problem was that each engine was different, used different entry-methods, and had drastically dissimilar interfaces. Google entered the market with their unique name, bare-bones interface, and they dropped the requirement for logical search strings (i.e. “(Eric AND marketing) OR (Eric AND blog)”).
It is impossible for Google to protect their layout as proprietary, so anyone could have come out with a Snoogle search engine with relative easy. The problem was that, due to its easy to use and confusion-free interface, Google quickly became a household name. No one talked about “searching” for things online, they were now “Google-ing.” The popular affection for Google and all the things it represented prevented anyone from knocking it off.
A more recent example is Facebook, the online social networking site. Like Google, the brand name quickly became a verb all its own, protecting the site’s image from would-be impersonators. Legally, it might be impossible to protect the layout of a website as intellectual property. Making the website common knowledge (and verbage), however, gives you the power to spread over multiple media and squash those who would try to copy your system.
