Many of us may not be knowing it yet. Google has launched the perfect product for the huge fan base following the technology giant. Ever heard of Google romance?  No its not about all the stuff most of the Orkut users try to do or even the desperate GTalk users who try their hand in cyber-world. This must have swayed technology enthusiasts on how Google decides to step into the pre-matrimony game.

For my readers who are still wondering, it is the “Google way to Organize World’s Courtship Information with Google Romance”. Sounds big? Google announced on 1st April the launch of Google Romance™, a new product that offers users both a psychographic matchmaking service and all-expenses-paid dates for couples who agree to experience contextually relevant advertising throughout the course of their evening.

Are you swayed by the news, on how the giant which changed the way information availibility is made to the user, can impact the industry? With the possible track on all the IMs which take place on GTalk, this sure was something that struck me as having tremendous potential, using social network analysis. I for one was all out thinking of the limitless possibilities Google’s new product may offer to its ever increasing fan base.

But know what? You’ll be even more swayed to know it was a prank by Google for its fans on April the 1st, 2006. Which company cares so much about its consumers so as to create an April Fool prank? None. And there you have it. Google stands aloft amongst all technology comopanies in the way it focuses on the customers. Care for the customers is a winning strategy that succeeds always.

Google sure has a long history of playing pranks with its fan base. The firm “leaks” news which delights the fans to no extent, the latest in 2010 and few such delightful surprises are the following:

  • Store anything on Google Docs (even multimedia)
  • YouTube ASCII video filter
  • Standard Voicemail Mode for Google voice
  • Google Annotations Gallery
  • Reader Advantage Program

Many of us don’t actually realize the great buzz marketing behind Google’s pranks.By increasing consumer intrigue, the company is actually increasing brand awareness and brand recall, besides fueling the core of its business, the search engine and email, when users scurry the net to know more of these pranks and mail friends excitedly starting off a chain reaction and create a larger buzz.

Google should now launch “Google Prank Suite” on popular demand from its ever increasing fan base. So Google, what’s next?

By Kar

Dr. Kar works in the interface of digital transformation and data science. Professionally a professor in one of the top B-Schools of Asia and an alumni of XLRI, he has extensive experience in teaching, training, consultancy and research in reputed institutes. He is a regular contributor of Business Fundas and a frequent author in research platforms. He is widely cited as a researcher. Note: The articles authored in this blog are his personal views and does not reflect that of his affiliations.