There are only a few ways people log onto the Internet, and an even more limited way in which they search for information. You are being managed from the time you turn on your computer, and Google proposes to be one of the greatest manipulators of all time.

It already is.

There are only about five places to start a search online - three portals - Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL, and two search engines - Overture and Google.

That's a pretty small funnel to distribute the millions of daily online visitors.

Google has sprinted past its rivals, Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL , in market share already. In the U.S., according to comScore Networks, Inc., Google accounts for 34.7 percent of Web searches, Yahoo!, powered by its own paid search engine Overture, has 30 percent and MSN has 15.4 percent.

Google blew the doors off of tradition by capitalizing on searches in a new way - by selling the keywords to guarantee results to advertisers. It is this introduction of paid search listings - text ads that appear alongside algorithmically-obtained search results from keywords inputted by consumers - that made Google profitable inside a year of introducing its paid search strategy. According to one news report, in 2001, Google "took in $86.4 million in revenues for a profit of $7 million. By 2003, revenue reached $961.9 million and its profits rose to $105.6 million."

Now, the paid search market is expected to grow to $4.3 billion in 2008 from $1.6 billion in 2003, according to Jupiter Research. Some predict that advertisers, pleased with increasingly targeted results, will influence Google to become more of a portal like MSN or Yahoo!. Then it will not only be the largest search engine, it could be the largest entry point for consumers to get on the Web, which means that Google can manipulate the public to go any direction it or its advertisers want.

Now Google is inviting the masses to an IPO share auction which will allow the masses more individual buying power. Normally, small investors are kept outside the gate in order to supply insiders with early profits when they are finally let in the door. In an unprecedented stock option auction, anyone who can ante up will be able to own shares of Google at IPO levels.

Google has more mass appeal than ever, hence the term "Google it," and it will use that goodwill to get users of its search engine to become investor-owners of the company. Unlike most companies in the IPO stage, Google is profitable and far from an embryo, one of the few companies powerful enough to dictate terms to Wall Street. Small investors are already hoping for a cleaner, less stacked-deck experience which will be welcome after years of watching a parade of corporate leaders compound greed with felony.

What does this mean to Realtors?

Over 71 percent of homebuying consumers search for homes online. Most consumers who use keywords to find homes never click past the first page of results. In addition, Google's revenue model means that advertisers will attempt to steer consumers to their own companies. As Realtors find themselves moved further and further back in the search results, they will also find themselves increasingly outbid by larger companies, including lead management companies that promote themselves as consultants in finding Realtors, property, loans, and other services associated with homebuying and selling.

One of the few ways to be found for free on the Internet will get a lot more expensive, especially if Google raises even close to what the founders and underwriters want - $2.7 billion.

Then, like every other publicly traded company, it will answer to its investors who are certain to want ever-increasing revenues.

Published: May 12, 2004

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.