Tricklin

This morning, while getting ready for work, the TV was tuned in to Good Morning America, and the newscasters were talking about "Google-ing themselves". Now, I realize that this this sounds like it could be construed as a slang term for doing something to yourself that isn't particularly family friendly. However, what this really means, is to go to google.com and do a search on your name and see what comes up. You may be wondering at this time what the big deal is for me to mention this. Well... I'm gonna tell ya. Google has done it. They have become a ge nericized trademark. Much like making a photocopy has become synonymous with xeroxing, and using Kleenex has replaced tissue paper, searching for something on the internet has now become "Google-ing". In the fast-paced, constantly changing internet technology market, Google has been able sustain such a huge edge over their competition that the idea of "searching for content over the internet" has now become "Google-ing for content".

This morning's GMA was not the first time Google has been genericized. Pontiac had a car commercial that urged their customers to "Google Pontiac" (see video clip), while in the movie "The Holiday", Cameron Diaz goes to Google to find her perfect vacation getaway. You never hear people saying "Yahoo to find your answer", or "MSN it".

Congratulations Google! You've truely made a name for yourselves.