mediajunk

Google is as much a marketing phenomenon as an internet phenomenon. But sometimes, in its attempts to be innovative, it just gets too geeky (even by my high standards of geekiness tolerance).

Take the current example of the billboard on Northern California's highway 101.

The billboard says:

{ First 10 digit prime in consecutive digits of e }.com

This translates to:
http://www.7427466391.com/

On which page, users encounter a(n extremely feckin difficult) mathematical puzzle*. When solved, the user gets led to this page:

http://www.google.com/labjobs/index.html

Sheesh. Like I said, a little too geeky, even for Google.

However, it demonstrates once more the company's uncanny ability to innovate in marketing. One single (albeit probably expensive and highly prominent) billboard, and soon there's a buzz on the blogosphere. Suddenly it's no billboard ad; it's a spreading-like-wildfire viral marketing campaign.

Smart.

*Given the modest size of my brain, I didn't spend much time trying to solve this puzzle. But apparently it's a series of consecutive sequences of ten digits that add up to the sum of 49. Or something like that.

And...
f(6) = 2952605956
f(7) = 0753907774
f(8) = 0777449920
f(9) = 3069697720
f(10) = 1252389784
f(11) = 3163688923