Who does not like it wear something with your favorite brand. It can be a sticker or a badge, a t-shirt or a backpack. Or directly its most emblematic products. But there are those who specialize in collect everything whatever bears that precious mark. Merchandising has managed to give added value to any brand. In addition to selling their products and services, they can make themselves known with t-shirts, bags, sweatshirts and other objects. You only have to print your brand in them. The most recent case is that of Microsoft and its Xbox refrigerator. But Google also had its moment of originality with its Google fridges.
The Microsoft thing and its Xbox fridge it started as a meme. A joke that got out of control and ended up becoming a actual product merchandising. If you are a fan of Xbox, it is very likely that you want to get yourself an Xbox mini fridge or mini refrigerator, a replica of the Xbox Series X in which chill your sodas and beverages. Small but with a very successful design that combines the black and green that identify the Xbox brand. Something that was talked about during the last months of 2021 and that, in practice, was still an Xbox advertising campaign. involuntary But advertising.
But when it comes to refrigerators and internet giants, Microsoft isn’t the only one to get involved with home appliances. When Google boasted in its first years of life of its motto “Don’t be evil” (Don’t be evil), had some other original idea like any self-respecting startup. And among these ideas, the Google fridges, mini fridges or mini fridges that only received, as a gift, the best adwords clientsthe advertising service that made Google the giant it is today.
For sale on eBay
If you look at second-hand portals for something like “Google refrigerator” either “Google Cooler” You will find mini fridges, with a capacity of approximately 20 litres, white in colour, and which attract attention because they have the Google logo printed on their door. Specifically, Google AdWords and the slogan cool thinking. A play on words cool which, in English, means both cold or cool and great or great.
The particularity of these Google fridges is that they are second hand and you can’t buy new ones. Not even when they were manufactured, back in 2006. They were a gift that was part of the Google AdWords campaign cool thinking. A limited series of mini fridges that were sent to the best Google AdWords customers. Those who had achieved one million PPC (Pay Per Click).
Not for nothing, what was called Google AdWords in 1996 and is known today as Google ads, was the best idea they had in Google to make their search engine profitable. And the products that would come from now on. Introduce ads based on the words that users search for. This turned Google into a advertising giant. And she still is. In 2021, more than 80% of Alphabet’s sales (the matrix that includes Google) were for advertising. Advertising that we see on Google, YouTube and many other products and services that millions of people use for free on their devices. To get an idea. In the last three months of 2021, of the 76,000 million profits, 61,000 were advertising. Payment services such as Google Cloud “only” accounted for 5,541 million.
So, if you’re a fan of Google and want to collect everything from this internet giant, you can’t miss a exclusive mini fridge. As I said before, 20 liters of content fit in it. Specifically, 18 bottles and cans of soft drinks. Its dimensions are, in inches, 18x15x12. Approximately 46x38x31 centimeters. Being a gift to American customers, the plug pin is classic American.
An inexhaustible source of income
As we have spoken on several occasions, Google was born as a final degree project. The founders of the company, which started by launching an automated search engine, Sergey Brin and. Lawrence Page, met at Stanford University. There the algorithm that made the Google search engine so special arose and there it was launched the first server which was hosted by Google. With the help of other people who are practically anonymous today.
The fact is that what we know as Google, the company, was born in 1998. Two years later, the search engine begins to show discreet advertising in the form of paid words, Google AdWords. And as I mentioned before, thanks to this advertising and the rapid growth in users of the search engine itself, Google is experiencing enormous growth. Already in 2001 they will buy a company to create Google Groups. In 2002 they will launch Google News. And in 2003 they will buy Blogger. That same year they will launch the specialized search engine Google Books. From there to dozens and dozens of online services and products, desktop applications and, later, mobile applications.
But that growth is thanks to the huge amounts of money who enter Google through Adwords. If in 2001, they entered “only” 70 million dollars, in 2003 they already reached 1,420 million dollars. In 2011, 36,530 million. And for 2021, the figure reached 209,490 million dollars. In Statistical you have the complete figures, every year. In addition to other interesting data, such as that in the world search market, Google is responsible for 85% of desktop searches. The competition must make do with the remaining 15%.
Gifts for the best customers
A piece of news from 2006 puts us on the track. Apparently, around Christmas 2005, Google’s advertising department sent christmas gifts to premium AdWords users. That information ran in several forums of the time. The gifts, packed in a small white box with colored dots, were as varied: a handbag, a mini computer mouse with a roll-up cable, a USB charger for the mouse also with a roll-up cable, a four-port hub USB, a USB LED light, a 128 MB flash drive (it was the standard amount at the time, we are in 2005) and a set of headphones with a retractable cable.
And if that Christmas kit wasn’t enough, in 2006 there were more gifts for the best Google AdWords customers. The google mini fridges, which we have mentioned in this article. A way to build loyalty and be kind to the public while gradually gaining favor with the public thanks to the search engine and other free services. Furthermore, it was about exclusive gifts. Even if we go back to 2004, some people received as a Christmas gift an FM/AM radio set that incorporated LED lighting to create varied environments.
It’s good if it’s short…
Google’s mini-fridge shipment occurred in 2006 and 2007 with a model that mimics the classic refrigerators curved lines and a metal handle. Of course, other later designs circulate around, such as the egg-shaped mini fridge that was sent from 2008. Also to premium customers of Google AdWords. Literally an egg-shaped mini fridge that looked more like a spaceship than a fridge. Minimalist and with the impression Google and “cool-thinking…” of the original model.
Apparently, in 2009, the gifts are over. Goodbye Christmas kits, radios with lights and Google fridges. Instead, AdWords customers received virtual cards who donated money to charitable entities and projects. A change of strategy for which we do not know the reason. Of course, for some time now, Google has continued to give away all sorts of objects, gadgets and merchandising to collaborators, influencers and other graceful But that is for another article.
Out of curiosity, if you are interested collect objects with the Google brand, you can buy some of them in the official store of Google merchandising. It includes all kinds of objects, especially clothes: bags, wallets, sweatshirts, t-shirts, socks… There are also mugs, stickers, pencils, pens and notebooks, both from Google and from other associated brands like YouTube or Android. There’s even a bamboo lunch box, sunglasses, and an umbrella. Of course, you will not find the already obsolete but appreciated Google refrigerators.