It should be 3.5 stars out of 5 (or somewhere between 3-4 stars).

In this book, author Jeff Harvis of BuzzMachine.com, discusses the concept of "Googlethink". He takes Google and studies what made today's huge company, an enormously successful organization and how that success can be transferred to other industries.

The book is divided into 2 parts. The first of which is the answer to "What/Why?" as in "What/Why is Google successful?". Jeff discusses the concepts of "Googlethink" and "Googlejuice". He also suggests that Google is a platform for success. Being a "platform" for other people to improve on and adopting the collaborative open-source mindset is what got it to be where it is today. He also explains and touches on his personal first rule which shows the relationship between Control and Trust. A few other ideas are also explored.

In the second part, Jeff provides some examples of the various services/products in our world that can truly benefit from the Googlethink way of doing things. Airlines, cola companies, hospitals, restaurants, media, etc. can all adopt the Google mindset of openness and collaboration which will ultimately transform these services into platforms of success by keeping customers and users involved. Although some ideas seem far-fetched. It's the idea that counts.

An enjoyable read, especially the second part of the book which answers the title's question. ( )

What would happen if various activities embraced openness, customer focus, etc. comprise the bulk of the book. The end of the book is a bit of a surprise when he talks about Apple being closed, but also being very successful. Since publication of the book in 2009, Google has gotten more and more into cell phones, which is one of the areas that the book speculated about. ( )

The author does a great job applying the ideas of google to all kinds of situations. Inspiring! ( )

This was an interesting audiobook, and Jeff Jarvis, the author, did a good job as narrator. I enjoyed hearing about things through "Google lenses," since Google has grown by leaps and bounds. One point especially interesing to me was how Google's search page is so simple, but can take you to so many places, while Yahoo's home page is so crowded. Who's the market leader here? ( )

Three chapters into it and so far it's excellent. Great business ideas and the author is well on top of what's going on in business and social media. ( )