Jeff Jarvis’ book came out this past week - yes, we recommend buying it immediately as we did - and then BusinessWeek does a related cover story. Most be a good week for Jarvis, whose BuzzMachine blog and regular Davos’ accolades help him challenge businesses to iterate more openly and innovate their practices. Per Chris Anderson (of the Long Tail): “Google is not just a company, it is an entirely new way of thinking about understanding who we are and what we want.” But where does Google go next?

Many look at Google as a ‘game changer’ - ‘gamechanger’ as one word(?) - in terms of how they employed a stealth search business/development, didn’t advertise a lick, cornered the search and bigger ad market, and IPO’d brilliantly.

Being the first to really meter or metric out advertising, then apply that to analytics, blogging, mapping, books, mobile advertising ands its hiring practices and its Googleplexes, (etc., etc.), put Google as a backend search technology into the forefront of the business and innovation world.

Google’s practices were and are aimed at inclusivity - include everyone to own the market share - from corporate to small business to consumer advertisers. As an acquisition, albeit one still on the earnings’ climb, Youtube with its market majority follows this strategy.

Limited controls in terms of multiple (and competitive) listings also prevent any one search advertiser from taking a monopoly hold in the market; and conversely, it allows Google to offer every advertiser equal and open opportunity to try to grab its landshare.

It’s the world wide west, with Google playing the role of accepted realtor (and banker). Manifest destiny becomes ‘Feeling Lucky?’.

So, as I work through Jarvis’s book, some initial observations on what Google could possibly do next in terms of open innovation in increasing mindshare, with a media perspective:

• TV strategy - still being worked out, but with more and more advertisers seeing the need for instant placement and reaction, Google has to get the distribution it needs, well beyond satellite, and prove that its virtual sourcing saves millions per year.
• Digg it - after pursuing a deal reportedly at $200M last year, it’s time to own this marketshare of rated and open-sourced information. Google’s recently added Digg-like features to personal search results (users can now raise or lower relevant search on just their personal machine); not sure if this is going to affect public search one day.
• Theatrical, Internet-enabled HDTVs, and Home Entertainment (BD Live) - the studios have been obedient to the movie theater exhibitors with their PSAs (”pre-show ads”), the broadcast and cable networks to control the ad breaks, and the big retailers like Wal-Mart to steer their DVD packaging, but there’s an opportunity to come in and own a share of the theatrical windows, dig deeper into tv, then play through BD (and in some form, Sony’s Home Network) with better ad placement and analytics. Search Engine Optimization, aka SEO, across the entertainment windows.
• Gaming consoles - with Xbox360+Netflix screening, we’re seeing the consoles open up from formerly closed systems. The Wii has crossed over several generations in terms of interest, this mainstream interest will grow. Is there opportunity here next?
• Mobile - relatively good start with Google Android, but with the iPhone and now even the Blackberry line trying to go iPhony, it’s time for Google to swerve left. I’ll get a mobile pro to provide more runway on this idea.

In terms of media, BusinessWeek had this to say about Jarvis’ Googly mentality affecting M&E:

In movies and television, a handful of studios act as gatekeepers, funding and distributing what they believe will be the big, blockbuster hits. This mindset of control is what Jarvis thinks has turned the music industry into a contracting, troubled business.

Again, I’m on page 10, but here’s more WWGD background. Per Jarvis’s book jacket:

I try to reverse-engineer the success of the fastest growing company in the history of the world, the one company that truly understands how to succeed in the internet age, and then take those lessons and apply them to a number of industries, companies, and institutions, from carmakers to restaurants to universities to government.

Exceptional endorsements:

What Would Google Do? is an exceptional book that captures the massive changes the internet is effecting in our culture, in marketing, and in advertising.” — CRAIG NEWMARK, FOUNDER OF CRAIGSLIST

“Jeff Jarvis has written an indispensable guide to the business logic of the networked era, because he sees the opportunities in giving the people control, and understands the risks in letting your competitors get there first.” — CLAY SHIRKY, AUTHOR OF HERE COMES EVERYBODY

“Jeff Jarvis’s What Would Google Do? is a divining rod for anyone looking for ways to hit real paydirt in the new territory of Web 2.0 marketing. Jarvis has a sharp eye for what is relevant, real, and actionable. Isn’t that what we all need today?” — MARC BENIOFF, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, SALESFORCE.COM

From Amazon:

Jeff Jarvis is the proprietor of one of the Web’s most popular and respected blogs about the internet and media, Buzzmachine.com. He also writes the new media column for the Guardian in London. He was named one of 100 worldwide media leaders by the World Economic Forum at Davos in 2007 and 2008, and he was the creator and founding editor of Entertainment Weekly. He is on the faculty of the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism in New York City.