Nexus One: Where's the advertising

D

DR1980

New member
Hey Everyone:

I've been following Google Android pretty closely for sometime now but am still amazed (and confused) by the Nexus One. It is arguably the most legitimate iPhone killer on the market and it is amazing (thinking about trading my Droid in for one). However, there are two things I can't figure out about the advertising of this product, and I have wasted way too much of my time thinking about this.

1) Why are they completely ignoring traditional methods of promoting the phone?
2) In terms of opportunity costs, how much do you think they are "spending" on this ridiculous blanketing of the web with nexus one adwords and banner ads? (I saw an ad for the Nexus One while looking for shoes!)

As far as (1) is concerned, my best guess is that Google is doing their normal strategy of release early and adjust accordingly (the "Beta" strategy), and used the first round of purchases as their guinea pigs.

Also, I'm not that familiar with adwords and the inter-workings of Google's advertising revenue stream, but it seems to me that they are incurring a large "cost" (at least in terms of opportunity costs) in putting nexus one ads everywhere.

Any thoughts, theories, and discussion is welcomed. I want to figure this out!
 
Oddly enough, as soon as I posted that a Nexus One image ad appeared at the bottom of the screen....I have to figure out how much they are actually spending on marketing!!
 
Whenever it arrives? It is here. Oh, you mean when Verizon has it as an official phone? What does that mean? The same old locked down and fool me with a low price as long as I play the same old broken game? No thanks, I only need to know if a particular phone will work on a provider, not if they sell it.
Maybe that's why we don't see the traditional advertising, it isn't a traditional phone in the sense that providers hold the power. Right now the target market for this phone already knows about it. It isn't the right phone for most everyone else. Slowly the game will change where you buy a phone and then buy your service but not from the same place. Once that finally sinks into our heads then we'll start to see advertising for phones like the N1.

On the other hand traditional advertising doesn't appeal to me at all and is almost invisible. Bravo to google, we don't need no stinkin ads.
 
I'm buying one the day its available for Verizon. I think the marketing has been fine. It just needs to be released on the Verizon network and be available for purchase. It will be like a Korean trying to get into Starcraft 2 beta. The insanity will be epic. You have a number of people here who registered just to ask questions because they are dying to get this phone. Jobs can have his stupid iphone that I would have liked 2+ years ago. I'm sold on Android and the Nexus has the hardware options I want like Noise Cancellation etc.
 
Locked down!? My Droid is as free as a fly on the celling. That is a myth! Don't fool yourself! The Best selection of Android devices will be on Verizon soon. The N1 will come to big V, and probably without the build quality issues that currently plague the phone.lol And with PROPER MARKETING! Like Google would really release a product and not want it in the hands of as many people as possible is ridiculous.

I dont really like any of the service providers, but might as well go with the 1 that has the best selection and NETWORK, until your magical dream of all cellphones working on all providers come to fruition.
 
Not every new creation is advertised. I've never seen an advert for a Nokia phone prior to very recent ones for the N97. I've seen a ton of iPhone adverts. I've never seen an advert for the G1. If they don't need to advertise it, why should they? Just about everyone I know has heard of the Nexus One, so perhaps they simply don't need to advertise it. Some people say that word of mouth is the best form of advertising.



Nothing? It's hard to say. I mean if it's Google AdSense we're talking about (probably the biggest and most common advertising system on the internet) then why would they charge themselves anything?



The basics of Google AdSense is that you have an account on Google where you create adverts. By create, I really mean "style". You set the size, shape, colour, etc. The actual advert is chosen by Google and you have no control over what it picks. It is chosen at random every time your webpage is loaded. You then shove a small amount of javascript on your webpages that pulls that advert from their servers. The actual advert displayed depends on what keywords Google finds on that webpage. Companies wishing to advertise pay Google for displaying their advert if/when the keywords they choose are found on the page. So, if I want to advertise my new Rabbit Food for example... I'd pay Google to link some keywords like "rabbit, pet food, rabbit food, bunny" etc with my advert, then whenever someone loads a webpage that is using AdSense that has any of those keywords on it, there's a chance it might display my advert.

For Google to advertise the Nexus One on AdSense enabled pages, all they'd have to do is link the Nexus One adverts to various keywords. I would imagine it wouldn't cost them anything as it's all part of Google.
 
For you and I yes but for the rest it is locked down. Why else are there endless newbies asking how to root their droid and every other provider phone? Lemme tell you about the thousands of no longer free as a fly Magics in Canada after the latest update....

Perhaps but not sure why that would be except that like always, they will will dictate a slightly different phone to fit their V world. I'm not buying an N1 until my Magic no longer fits my needs but when I do I expect to get my monies worth or it goes back until I get one that does have quality or I'll pick another device. But never will I buy a phone from the provider unless it comes fully unlocked and rootable.

No I don't have a dream of the universal phone and don't really care. I only care about what works on what provider. Ideally my phone will work on more than one provider because I might want to change and is why I'll never get a contract much less a contract phone.

I have nothing against the providers selling phones but I only want the option to buy mine elsewhere. Right now there are few choices for truly unlocked. Until then I can at least buy 2nd hand and make them unlocked.

That being said I don't live anywhere near a Verizon network so have no opinion of them other than I don't want any device they or anyone else sells with their service.
 
How many times do I need to address this. Verizon won't be advertising the N1. Tmo won't be advertising the N1. Sprint won't be advertising the N1. No carrier will be advertising the N1.

Why? Because it's sold by Google and simply hosted by a carrier. You're buying the phone directly from Google. The carrier can't sell it in their stores (at least not right now), and if they can't sell it in their stores to make a profit then there's going to be zero advertising for it from their end.

Will Google start advertising? It's 50/50. They might be waiting on the VZW version before pushing it. However, they've relied purely on word-of-mouth on every product they've ever launched, and it's been successful for them. So, who knows...
 
I agree that word of mouth has always worked for them before (and I also realize your making a general statement and not as statement of fact) but with the launch of the Nexus One Google has now become a business that sells a physical product which is completely different from all of their other products. Also, with the exception of advertising, all of their other services have been free (probably to help them collect better user data but that is for another discussion). The Nexus One is completely different from all of their other offerings.

On another note, I thought AdSense was the mechanism through which Google paid websites for allowing Google access to use their sites. Adwords is the mechanism for bidding on ads and placements - I could be wrong. But, if I'm right, then Google is incurring more than the opportunity cost of forgoing alternative ad revenue, they are actually incurring a physical cost of paying websites for each 'click' (or whatever metric they use). I'm still thinking that Google is implicitly creating a rather large advertising spend - just not an effective one. But as their strategy here is still a mystery, it is hard to tell
 
AdSense is for the web site operator (I place AdSense banners on my site). AdWords is what advertisers use/buy to place banners on my site through AdSense banners.
 
Comparing a $500+ piece of hardware, to all the other FREE services google has offered in the past, is apples and oranges. Lets just wait and see.
 
It still doesn't change the fact that unless Google does a complete 180* on the N1, Verizon/Tmo/etc still won't offer it in their stores. It would change their entire strategy.

I'm just tired of hearing all the Verizon folks who are eagerly awaiting the phone to appear in their *store* when Google is the one selling it, not Verizon. The N1 is out for Tmo, but you cannot walk up to a Tmo store and buy an N1 -- because Tmo isn't the one selling it.

They are either going to continue to be the provider and having the carriers as just a network provider (which is the more over-seas way of doing things), or they will buy into the US system of subsidized phone on contract through carriers.

I highly doubt they change their current way of doing things. Also, we have no idea what their goal was for the N1. They've already called it a success. So if their entire goal was to start the movement towards a non subsidized phone network provider model -- they might be succeeding. If it's uptake of a device, they're not. However, if they are perhaps pushing the Android software from being ARM11 based to having higher-end hardware, they're definitely hitting that note (for instance, the launching of the Desire).

It's hard to say without having insider knowledge. I fully expect at some point to see a bit more advertising from Google, but it depends on how they proceed and what their goals are.
 
Well I'm not one of those folks eagerly waiting for the N1 to arrive!lol

Now the Incredible is a different story. I'm having dreams about that one!
 
In my mind this is the whole point of what Google is doing. I believe that our cell industry is horribly broken and that the way to change isn't legislation and certainly not going to happen by the providers unless they see a more profitable way which won't do us consumers any good either way.

To me the cell providers are almost exactly the same as an ISP, provide a data service, a gateway. They happen to also offer their own service, voice but ultimately they shouldn't get in my way or dictate how or what I access within the boundries of the technology and fair use. They are free to offer phones, services, and to charge for each one but if they allow me to only purchase data access then I'm happy.

I firmly believe that the only way to change or at least options that make me feel like I'm getting a service worth buying is to separate the hardware from the provider service. Generic phones like the N1 sold as a fully unlocked device is a great start.

You can of course buy unlocked phones but in N.A. but that tends to be done in dark shady corners of the economy which is exactly where the providers like to keep it. Elsewhere this is done as a normal business, buy a phone at the phone store and then your service from a provider. All we're missing now is the phone store. That will come eventually. I hope.
 
Honestly, googles strategy makes sense. Why shoot your oem's in the foot? Look at how Microsoft backed stabbed htc by not allowing the hd2 to upgrade to winphone7. I'm sure that left a bad taste in htc's mouth.

I wonder if the n1 was meant to be more. But in the middle of it all too much was invested to drop the whole project.
 
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