Google Business Tools

Google currently leads the pack when it comes to search engine usage. And it is becoming an even more powerful tool for businesses and prospective business owners. Three of these tools are Google Insights, Google Patents and Google Checkout.

 

Google Insights is a search tool for searches. In other words, Insights will tell you how many searches relative to total searches were done on a particular word or topic. This data can be filtered down by time period, location, or compared to similar search terms. For example, suppose you want to sell chocolate oranges. From the information Insights provides, you would be able to tell that their peak season is at the end of the calendar year with the majority of interest being in the United States and the United Kingdom. Or a more local example, suppose you want to open a take and bake pizza restaurant. Insight shows you that interest in take and pizza has been steady over the last couple of years, though not as stable as the Food and Drink category. You also learn the Papa Murphy’s and Nick & Willy’s are two potential strong competitors. So while Insights doesn’t replace in-depth research and analysis, it can point an individual in the correct direction.

 

The second tool is Google Patents. Google Patents is a search engine dedicated to patents. This is a quick and painless (free) way to see if someone else has already patented an idea similar to yours before a lot of time and money is invested in an idea. It is structured the same way as traditional Google searches, but will only return results for existing patents or applications.

 

Google Checkout is the Google answer to PayPal. It is an intermediary between your online customer and your bank account. It provides a gateway for funds to be transacted. The customer goes to your website and makes a purchase. Then the customer is transferred to Google Checkout where the transaction is completed. The information at this point may be filled in if the customer has a Google account and has saved their payment information. The customer is then transferred back to your site. Unlike the first two tools, this one does cost. A percentage of the transaction is charged as a transaction fee in addition to a small per transaction fee. If the seller subscribes to a certain level of Adwords, then those fees are waived. The incentive to using Google Checkout is that when Google searches are done from the Shopping tab, items that offer Google Checkout will be listed first. However, as with any business decision, a comparison of competing products should be performed to determine the best fit for that business’s needs.