# Why Google needed a Superbowl ad

> We were watching the Superbowl on TiVo, about a half hour behind, when I got a text message from my son at college: ...quot;Google's super bowl ad was horrible. I'm going to use Bing....quot; I didn't think it was bad,…
> URL: https://www.smartdatacollective.com/24832/
> Last modified: 2010-02-08T14:56:21+00:00

**We were watching the Superbowl on TiVo**, about a half hour behind, when I got a text message from my son at college: …quot;Google’s [super bowl ad](http://www.youtube.com/searchstories)was horrible. I’m going to use Bing….quot;

 I didn’t think it was bad, but I’m more prone to sentimentality than my son (to put it mildly). As I started this post, my point was going to be that the ad wasn’t targeted at people like him, [a blogger](http://thesconz.wordpress.com/)who actually considers which search engine to use. And it certainly wasn’t for the masses who had clicked the ad on YouTube. I figured it was more for millions of people who use search occasionally, but don’t yet understand the breadth of its applications. After all, how does Google fare with people [who have migrated](http://thenumerati.net/index.cfm?postID=518) in the last two or three years from dial-up, or are still there? For a company with 70% of the search market, that segment might represent growth. And you’re more likely to reach them on the Superbowl than with a viral campaign on the Net.

 But as I rewatch the ad, I suspect it might move too fast…

		
							
					
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**We were watching the Superbowl on TiVo**, about a half hour behind, when I got a text message from my son at college: …”Google’s [super bowl ad](http://www.youtube.com/searchstories)was horrible. I’m going to use Bing…”

			
				
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I

didn’t think it was bad, but I’m more prone to sentimentality than my

son (to put it mildly). As I started this post, my point was going to

be that the ad wasn’t targeted at people like him, [a blogger](http://thesconz.wordpress.com/)who

actually considers which search engine to use. And it certainly wasn’t for the masses who had clicked the ad on YouTube. I figured it was more

for millions of people who use search occasionally, but don’t yet

understand the breadth of its applications. After all, how does Google fare with

people [who have migrated](http://thenumerati.net/index.cfm?postID=518) in the last two or three years from dial-up,

or are still there? For a company with 70% of the search market, that segment might represent growth. And you’re more likely to reach them on the Superbowl than with a viral campaign on the Net.

But as I

rewatch the ad, I suspect it might move too fast for that audience. I imagine relatives of mine watching it. Instead of seeing themselves typing rapid-fire queries and madly clicking, they’re picturing a grandchild doing it. But of course, he might be using Bing.

[Link to original post](http://www.thenumerati.net/index.cfm?postID=521)