Get the most out of search: Business and production uses grow for Google and other search technologies

摘要

Seek, and ye shall find. Well, that was the theory. The past reality, when it came to searching print reference sources like directories for information on new suppliers, products, and processes was always more prosaic and involved a certain amount of luck. The information was out there, all right-but the effort involved in tracking it down often was too disproportionate to the likely return. For many businesses, word-of-mouth recommendations, trade shows, and watching competitors were usually better bets. A single word has changed that: Google, which is fast becoming one of those brand names that define a product space, in much the same way Scotch Tape, Kleenex, Band-Aid, and Xerox do. In everyday conversation, to "google" something is verbal shorthand for "use an Internet search engine."