Today Google is known for many things, including its innovations and search engine domination. But with the passage of time, it is easy to forget an important lesson Google provided that we can all learn from and apply to our own businesses.
Not long ago, Yahoo! and AOL dominated the Internet like Google does now. It was common to use the homepages of these past giants to see calendars, news, sports scores, weather, stock quotes, personals, email, auctions, games, classifieds, travel information, and more. The thinking was that more is better, and so they kept adding more. Shopping, horoscopes, real estate…the list goes on.
Then came Google. In complete contrast, the Google homepage contained just a simple logo and search box. Underneath the search box, there were two simple options: “Google Search” and “I’m Feeling Lucky.”
At a time when we are being bombarded with marketing messages and our email boxes are packed with spam, it’s no wonder many complain of information overload. Maybe to stand apart and catch attention it’s time to do the opposite of everyone else. Sometimes less is better. Sometimes simple wins.
It seems to be working quite well for Google.