Google's Deep Impact

Produced by NHK

The film examines the tremendous influence the communication company Google is having on the corporate world as well as on our entire culture. The number of businesses, large, small and start-ups, using Google's services has skyrocketed. The service Google has developed called Search Engine Marketing has enabled many companies to increase the power of their advertising and boost sales by marketing through Google. Several advertising executives explain why and how they alter their marketing plans, sometimes on a daily basis, in order to raise their rankings in the Google listings. If they are not placed within the first five entries in the Google Search listing, "they are dead." Those businesses using Google are raising their profits by designing better web sites and constantly looking for new ways to entice users to their sites.

The film also takes us to Google's colorful corporate headquarters where several employees discuss the innovative programs they have come up with, such as Google Search, Google News, and Google Books which are digitalized and affiliated with libraries. Google's influence also extends to individuals pursuing their daily life needs. Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, says, "Google was founded to organize the world's information." There are those who now question Google's reach, revealing too much information about our private lives to anyone who can access the web.

49 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Rental $85.