Thinking about online branding, and websites that I frequent, I was drawn towards today’s QotD. Personally I spend plenty of time interacting with Toronto-branded blogs, photographers, and news outlets – most of which are local and content-specific. Today’s QotD asks:
Which online brand do you interact most with (on a daily basis)?
Google!
I would have to say I interact most with Google. From its search and news, and SEM and SEO tools, I’m on a Google property multiple times a day.
It’s caused me to think if when Google looks at itself in the mirror, is it not seeing reflections of Microsoft. Who will be the next upstart to claim they don’t want to dominate?
Now the question is – will I purposly look for solutions that are not related to Google because they are dominating the sandbox? Would you?
Hey Arieh, interesting question.
I’ll answer your question in 2 parts: the online brands with which I initiate daily contact and the online brands which initiate daily contact with me.
I initiate:
– Google (most of my company’s shared applications are part of the Google suite – hosted email, docs, analytics, etc.)
– Amazon (we use S3 for daily backups)
– Yahoo! (I have all my RSS feeds set up in My Yahoo!)
They initiate (usually through a daily email and with my permission):
– OneDegree
– TechCrunch
– MarketProfs
– Wine Spectator (my expensive hobby)
– Epicurious
I use the email push versus the RSS pull for all of the above as they can be viewed on my Blackberry when I’m away from my computer.
Like most people, other than using my own company’s site – http://www.exacttarget.com – I interact most with Google – Google News, Search, Mail, Maps, Groups, etc.
I also interact with Salesforce.com, the CRM solution our company uses. I always have at least 1 or 2 Salesforce.com windows, sometimes using multiple computers.
For years I have built up and accessed a personalized My Yahoo with multiple pages – Business, Sports, Distractions. I still use this for stock quotes and updates on my tracked companies and sports teams.
Other than the massage parlour down the street … just kidding! (It isn’t just down the street.) I interact with Apple.
I have been a cultist since my first MacIntosh 128 and between my MacBook Pro and my iPod… that would be probably 10 – 15 hours a day. Yes, Google. They are my second Brand de choix. Not counting Bambi, Cherise or Monica…from the Spa …but je digress …
The one brand that keeps coming up front and centre however is Nikon. As an avid photog my Nikon goes everywhere I go. Great tools have a special place in my heart whether they be camera equipment, computer equipment or musical instruments.
Like everyone else here I would be a Googler, whether that be on a PC or Mac based system. At home I use Adium, NetNewsWire and Flock and then at work it’s Outlook, Microsoft (word/excel/MSN/IE) and NRS, which is an internal piece of software.
The sites I most interact with are:
http://www.saulcolt.blogspot.com (my blog..go check it out)
http://www.gmail.com and Google in general
http://www.adrants.com
http://www.linkedin.com
http://www.nicekicks.com
-saul