More Great Stuff From Google - Jam With Chrome & Google Search App

Besides the recent launch of Google Maps for iOS, there's been a ton of great stuff coming from Google lately so I thought I'd shout out a few things you may or may not have seen.

Jam With Chrome
If you haven't seen Jam with Chrome, you really must check it out.  The latest Chrome Experiment is absolutely mind blowing from a technical perspective as well as demonstrating what's possible these days with just a web browser.  Jam With Chrome allows you to invite friends into a live ‘Jam’ session to play any of 19 instruments to collaboratively create music from within the Chrome browser from anywhere in the world on pretty much any device, all in real-time.  It's hard to describe how cool this is without experiencing it yourself so head on over to Jam With Chrome and/or check out the video below.
Ads For The Google Search App
How promote the knowledge graph & voice search integration in the Google Search App in a way that communicates the power of those features without coming across as too techy?  Venables Bell & Partners nailed it in these spots.  Check them out below.

Norton - Top Result

Norton, the provider of internet security tools has launched a great new initiative, Top Result.  Developed by Naked Communications in Stockholm the campaign allows users control the first impression they make when people search for them online.  The idea builds off the insight that first impressions no longer happen in person and that often people do some digital sleuthing before meeting someone in person.  Top Result allows people to protect their reputation by securing their own search results and hopefully ensure that their result shows up first when a search is done for their name.  Unlike reputation management sites which attempt to influence the actual organic search results when searching for your name, Norton results simply buys AdWords for each user & foots the bill for those paid search ads.  You simply go to the Norton Top Search website and enter their name and then basically create a standard Google AdWords Ad.  You can then choose a link such as your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn page and then see a preview of how the search result will appear.  In order to make sure that nobody is hijacking another person's identity, you're required to verify your identity via Facebook.

It really is a brilliant idea and one that solves a legitimate concern from users about the lack of control of their online identity.  As Contagious points out: 'Norton's Top Results campaign is a perfect example of a trend Contagious coined - Marketing as Service Design - with the brand aligning its core values of security, trust and protection with a simple but effective digital tool. The brand has matched an unmet need with its core brand values, and is executing that in a way that uses the existing technology in a smart way. Using Google's ad spaces is a cheap, elegant solution that taps existing media and infrastructure and puts them to great use rather than trying to build its own website.'

Additional Articles: Contagious | Mashable