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Online Marketing<br>How Google is Becoming the New AOL<br>Written by Jon Henshaw and published January, 2014

If you’re younger than 30, what you’re about to read next may shock you.<br>In the mid-’90s, AOL was the Internet for most people.<br>AOL provided dial-up access that connected you to its walled garden. It had one goal: keep the user on AOL‘s Desktop. Yes, it eventually provided an in-app browser, but that was secondary to its content and ads.<br>It’s now 2014, and a new AOL is on the horizon: Google.<br>From search to social media to entertainment, Google is leveraging its many products and services to keep you on Google in ways that eerily mimic AOL‘s past success.<br>What’s more, Google is perfectly positioned to pull it off – because just like the old AOL, Google is the starting place for most Internet users.<br>Table of Contents

How we connect<br>With the exception of Prodigy and CompuServe, AOL dial-up used to be how everyone connected to the Internet (at least from home). Google is now making its move to be the Internet Service Provider (ISP) of choice for consumers.<br>Robert Cringley first reported in 2007 that "Google controls more network fiber than any other organization." It is now putting some of it to good use with the introduction of its own ISP, Google Fiber.<br>You might be asking yourself, "Why would Google want to be my ISP?" It probably has less to do with starting another service than it has to do with net neutrality. As Google continues to position itself as the new AOL, it is becoming a greater threat to its competitors, which includes ISPs and content providers.<br>Google is making the move to be your next ISP in order to neutralize the threat of having no net neutrality. The move also enables Google to provide the best user experience possible – something that’s key to winning your business and loyalty.<br>Where we go<br>In the early days of the consumer Internet, AOL Desktop had everything. Well, it at least had the basics of everything, and most people weren’t aware that there was more out there on the real Internet.<br>When people logged into AOL, they would check and send email, read news, chat with their friends, shop and check their stocks. They would also see ads – lots of them.<br>Eventually, word got out that there was more to the Internet than just AOL. AOL slowly made "the Web" available with an in-app browser. Eventually a dial-up connection began to work with the OS, which allowed third party browsers to work.<br>Once we discovered the enormity of the Web, people began to rely on their browser’s bookmarking feature or services like Delicious and later Pocket to keep track of the sites they liked.<br>While many people still use some form of bookmarking, most now solely rely on Google search to find whatever they need. And thanks to Google’s personalization features, it’s as if Google is starting to truly know our interests and favorite sites.<br>One company to rule them all<br>The examples here are hardly exhaustive. Google has its hands in so many things that I could go on for quite some time. But for the sake of brevity, I’ll stick to the bigger and more obvious examples that show how Google is becoming the new AOL.<br>Browsing<br>Since the Chrome browser was introduced in late 2008, it has experienced continuous month-over-month growth. It’s now the dominant browser on the market, used by 55% of all desktops. If the growth trend continues, almost every desktop will be using Chrome as its browser within the next few years. Google will solidify itself as the de facto "start" page for most Internet users.<br>Google is also changing how we access and browse the Internet with its browser’s close cousin, Chrome OS.<br>Chrome OS (COS), a full-fledged operating system, is like the Chrome browser on steroids. COS provides the user experience of a desktop computer, but it’s even more simplified than Mac OS X.<br>COS is built to be fast and to run on inexpensive hardware. It’s also designed for an always-connected, cloud-based environment. That means all you need is a decent Internet connection and Google. COS also provides a developer framework for creating apps (even offline apps). Some developers, like the makers of Pocket and Wunderlist, have already created apps for it.<br>But here’s the kicker. The app framework isn’t just for COS, it also works with the browser. That means I can install and add – via the Chrome browser on Mac OS X or Windows – the Wunderlist app to my browser. And now with the standardized App button on Chrome’s bookmarks bar or its Google App Launcher (aka Trojan horse), all of my apps will be available directly from my browser and Dock.

This means that not only will Google be your starting place for...