If your dog bit you, what would you do?
What if it kept biting you?
What if it bit your child?

What do you do when a trusted partner starts to breach that trust?

What if that trusted partner is the one who brings in all the work for your company, that you’ve built your business around.
What if it was Google?

This is why I suffer F.O.G. – Fear Of Google.

Google has been very kind to my business. So far. SWiM has grown in the iAge and Google has fed us and our clients.
But SWiM is aware that it lives under the rule of a seemingly benevolent dictator. Google lives by the credo “Don’t do evil”, but who judges what is evil and to who?
Who watches the watchmen?

Google has now started to charge for Google Maps access, read more about it here.
Relax, don’t delete the app from your smart phone. Yet.
But if you are a real estate website or travel destination you might need to get the Visa card primed.

Google states…

“Google Maps API Premier is extremely cost-effective, starting at just $10,000 per year. Pricing is based on the number of map page views for externally facing websites.”

What if Google started to charge for searches?

So in this iAge, we need to set our businesses so that we cannot fall victim to a change in policy from companies like Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Facebook, Apple or others.

Apple has been trying (succeeding?) in having us subscribe to it’s online eco-system for some time; iTunes & now iCloud. It has permeated our pockets via its iPods and iPhones, especially our hip pockets.

So, keep your business robust.

SWiM still conducts graphic design, print and exhibition works, video and more, so that we are not 100% dependant on web.
Are you doing similar things for your business?

Where does this leave us?

Perhaps you should come and have a chat to us about non-Google strategies to grow your business.