The Search (Book Review of the Week-ish)

John Battelle’s The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture is not a new book. In fact, my copy has been sitting in my reading stack – off and on – for the better part of a year. Why? Because. Who doesn’t know this story? What can Battelle tell us about Google – about search overall – that you can’t find all over the web, not least of all on Battelle’s own blog? Lots. Lots and lots, actually. Better yet, it’s all in one place. Battelle does far more than lay out the history of Google. He examines the history of people looking for things and the myriad attempts to help those people find what they’re look for.

Better yet, Battelle does not view this as some abstract, academic pursuit, despite search’s academic origins. Instead he uses a reporter’s instinct to examine the who, what, where, when, why – and, crucially – who makes money and how much they make. And he does it so masterfully, I’m going to have to find room for The Search in my list of the most important books of the last 10 years. And, yes, the book is a couple years old. Doesn’t matter. Battelle focuses on concepts that hold true, while still telling an engaging story along the way. Plus, you get it at a discount. Lucky you.

Central to Battelle’s story is the concept of the Database of Intentions. It’s widely known that one of the keys to Google’s success is the fact that customers tell Google what they want every day. Battelle explains the far-reaching benefits that provides, not just for Google, and not just on the web, but for any business.

Whether you rely on paid search, organic search, internal search, local, Yellow Pages, GPS, OnStar or just about any other form of search for helping your customers find you, your business depends on search going forward. For that alone, you owe it to yourself to read The Search.

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