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When Google Hates Your Name: Why We Renamed Our Startup

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Re: When Google Hates Your Name: Why We Renamed Our Startup

#51

Post by drewvolpe »

maguay wrote: post #43

My site Techinch.com came up first for "techinch" with no problems on Google until they switched to instant search. Now it says "Showing results for techniche. Search instead for techinch" Grrrr So would you recomend sticking it out, or trying for a new name? Just a small blog right now, but I definately want it to grow...

If you like your name then I wouldn't switch. Techniche is not that common a search term and as you start to get more traffic and mentions, you should be able to overcome it quickly.

In our case, "cardio" is a very common search term. Also, we didn't like our name for the other reasons given (hard to pronounce, doesn't say what we do, not memorable).

Re: When Google Hates Your Name: Why We Renamed Our Startup

#53

Post by chopsueyar »

seldo wrote: post #25

While much of this is good advice, the "name that says what you do" is tricky. Product names should say what they do, but companies sometimes find it more useful to remain vague. Consider: Yahoo, Google, eBay, Amazon. None of these words had, when invented, any associations in the public mind. This allows those companies to grow and change their brands and their focus. Imagine if Amazon had been called "Bookery". Or…

If Yahoo, Amazon, and eBay were late-comers (much later to Google's search dominance), would these companies have used these names?

Particularly now, I would assume it is much more difficult to "brand" a company (a search engine, auction site, or super-powered ecommerce site) with so much disparate media, particularly with Google as the gatekeeper. Newspapers, television, and radio does not have the impact it once had.

Amazon was the only name based off of a real noun. Whenever I buy from Amazon, I still wonder what the name has to do with the business (besides being the largest river and having alphabetical priority).

It is interesting to watch Google's influence on business names, particularly for local businesses.

Unfortunately, for most businesses today, the public mind is "censored" by Google search reslts. Not intentionally, but because Google knows better than you.

Name your businesss after popular search queries.

It is better to name your restaurant "townname foodtype", rather than anything unqiue.

springfield bar b q vs. tex's bbq pit springfield chinese vs dragon phoenix springfield plastic surgery vs

Re: When Google Hates Your Name: Why We Renamed Our Startup

#54

Post by chopsueyar »

agravier wrote: post #40
jcurbo wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, "amazon" is from Greek mythology and wasn't really invented recently, but the rest of your point still stands.

It was possibly mostly associated with the river in people's mind at launch time. Amazon is a smart name, exotic rivers and books go well together.

The company was originally named Cadabra, Inc., but the name was changed when it was discovered that people sometimes heard the name as "Cadaver." The name Amazon.com was chosen because the Amazon River is the largest river in the world, and so the name suggests large size, and also in part because it starts with 'A' and therefore would show up near the beginning of alphabetical lists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com

Re: When Google Hates Your Name: Why We Renamed Our Startup

#55

Post by maguay »

drewvolpe wrote: post #51
maguay wrote: post #43

My site Techinch.com came up first for "techinch" with no problems on Google until they switched to instant search. Now it says "Showing results for techniche. Search instead for techinch" Grrrr So would you recomend sticking it out, or trying for a new name? Just a small blog right now, but I definately want it to grow...

If you like your name then I wouldn't switch. Techniche is not that common a search term and as you start to get more traffic and mentions, you should be able to overcome it quickly. In our case, "cardio" is a very common search term. Also, we didn't like our name for the other reasons given (hard to pronounce, doesn't say what we do, not memorable).

Thanks for the encouragement. Yes, I like it, and think I'll stick with it. I can defiantly see why your former name could have problems in search, and it turns out that Techniche is a tech conference in India this year ... who knew? So hey, should work itself out over time.

Re: When Google Hates Your Name: Why We Renamed Our Startup

#56

Post by richardhenry »

danilocampos wrote: post #12
richardhenry wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found this pretty quickly with Cursebird.

Did you mean custard? Showing results for custard. Click here to see results for cursebird. Ah, Google.

I assume you're joking? If not, let me know.

Here's what myself and most people see: http://cl.ly/2SzP

Interestingly, if you search for "cussbird" it will correct you to "cursebird": http://cl.ly/2TPX

I'm not logged in, and people in the U.S. see the same results.

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