Remember when Google was just a search engine that made really good use of white space? Well in case you haven’t noticed, Google is in the advertising business now. No Web site banner or margin (or other white space for that matter) has been spared.
So when I recently ran into this Google-branded sanlunche (a kind of modern-day mechanized rickshaw) driving around Beijing, it came as no surprise. Ironically, the side of its carriage has been fashioned from a sign bearing the logo of Google AdSense, the search provider’s advertising system.
Google AdSense is what allows Web site creators to embed Google ads all up and down the sides of their pages. I bet no one at the Googleplex thought that one day their logo would be advertised up and down the sidewalks of Beijing.
If only these things came with Google Maps!
(The Chinese characters 恒久信任，携手共赢 mean “Forever Trust, Succeed Together…” Google’s Chinese tagline?)
8 Comments
You are naive. This was a piece of trash he found to use as a side to his cart.
You make me 哭笑不得 … of course it’s a piece of trash. This was supposed to be funny. I guess it got lost in translation.
Did you regular readers check out this story on Danwei.org? FYI: It’s the go-to blog for media/marketing matters in China. Here’s what they said:
Google ads on Beijing tricycles: Photos from the Go Too Far East blog: Is Google advertising on the sides of Beijing tricycles (三轮车)?
More: http://www.danwei.org/danwei_picks/danwei_picks_western_media_she.php
Wow, you’re being picked up by major media. What’s next? I always told you you’re a good writer.
It is being picked up by major media because the story is being presented to them as real when it is not.
This is all about traffic to a website, not actual news. Disgusting, really.
Hey Shenster,
Lighten up. My only POINT in this post was to POINT OUT something funny. It’s not as sinister as you think. This isn’t CNN distorting Tibetan protest pics. Maybe you should reread (or read) the article.
SHEN CONG WEN:
Have a sense of humor for God’s sake! Nobody is trying to twist any facts here –except you!
He probably just thought it was funny that a google ad would ironically appear on a bike like that. Danwei used the same tone–again: not trying to twist the “news”, but just being funny.
You know what, maybe you need to be more naive~
To be fair, i agree with you that news are not always true as it appears (Everybody knows that). But i dont think this is one of those articles–like you said youself, it’s not “actual news.” So chilax, okay?
Hello Tim, thanks for this great great pic.
It is excellent for discussion in sociology, advertising, art, etc. I really like the complex irony of the whole gesture and context.
I hope you don’t mind my using it here: http://videovoo.com/2008/04/04/google-ad-trash-revamped-on-a-chinese-rickshaw-tech-art/
Let me know if you do.
Anna