Problem

It started out with a single data point of interest: over and over again, developers turned to Google Search as a helpful tool within their workflows. So I said, “we should make a campaign about it.” So we did.

When I had the idea to celebrate 25 years of Google Search from a developer POV, the fledging project was ambiguous in that we didn’t know what the format would be or who the key stakeholders were. So we started ideating and pitched the biggest idea first: a Year in Search style video. From there it became clear that we needed to get the ok from the Search team to do that, and they ultimately said no because they wanted to own that idea. So with shifting priorities and less time to develop, it became more clear that needed a more manageable format. We decided that a data-heavy blog that showed search results would be interesting, and that it should have some visual elements for social to help promote it. But we still needed to decide what the content would be. After a few pitches, we determined that we needed to avoid talking about generative AI tools eclipsing the value of Google Search as a tool, and so the final format of the blog needed to focus on the past.

Solution

By asking questions, getting the right people on board to support, and focusing on the data points I had available to me (including what I could say, what format made sense, and what information made sense from a developer and company POV) I was able to build clarity out an otherwise ambiguous situation to deliver useful, insightful, and interesting content that resonated.

• To help steer the conversation to a positive place, we opted for a retrospective on what the most important searches have been for developers.

• To build out the content strategy, I started with what I knew and built a timeline focused on major development milestones. Then I partnered across the organization with developer relations for mobile, web, AI, and cloud tools in addition to gaining access to the Google Search and Google Trends teams. I worked with those partners to add and vet what they saw as the most important moments in the wider ecosystem and from a product perspective from Google.

• After I got the timeline and concepts signed off by DevRel, I partnered to confirm search terms in the backend of the Search console in addition to leveraging the backend of Google Trends.

• Then I wrote the blog and partnered with agency MBooth to develop creative to amplify the content in the blog and on social.

Impact

• 1M views and 14,800+ engagements, organically in the first 24 hours.