According to Jonathan Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, Product Management and Marketing at Google, "20% of all Google searches every month are brand new search terms never typed in before."
This quote was reported by Mitch Joel via Twitter today.
Twitter is a mini-blog that imposes a maximum length of 140 characters per post. Twitter was founded in March 2006. A year ago, Twitter was a curiosity but services such as Twitter are poised to grow as mobile communications grows.
How does the quote and the source impact product development and launch?
The Impact of Social Networks is Expanding
Information from social networks is trusted more than many other sources of traditional product information such as press releases or brochures. The expectation is that professional spin experts do not embellish the information.
Do your development and launch plans address social networks? Is the quality of your product good enough to generate positive word-of-mouth reviews? Can your target customers repeat the key messages in one or two sentences? What changes are you planning in your advertising strategy?
New Search Terms
Since 20 percent of the terms Google users submit are new each month, Google must continuously gather and process new data to ensure that searches represent current perceptions.
How often will you refresh your product requirements for your next new product? How often do you refresh documentation for current products? How will you ensure that your search engine marketing efforts are effective? Will you bid on different pay-per-click terms next month?
Have you tried anything new?
What new communication methods do you plan to try in your next product launch? I'll cover one example of a unique launch, communication effort in the next podcast.
