So out of the blue I got called by a reporter asking me what I thought of Google posting an advertisement for the new Nexus One on its homepage.  It was an easy question – the Google homepage isn't sacrosanct.  Like everything, it needs to be used in a way that's most valuable for customers and suppliers.  Times change, and it should change.  So I answered that the Google home page wasn't a sacred cow, and it's smart for Google to try things. 

So OnlineMediaDaily.com quotes me on Thursday in "Google Runs Multimillion-dollar ad for Nexus One." 

• "Has Google changed its stance on using the
  home page as a promotional platform? Adam Hartung, an analyst with
  Spark Partners, refers to Google's home page as a "sacred cow." The
  company has something that almost seems like a religious idol. This ad
  demonstrates that Google is willing to change that and "attack a sacred
  cow to step the company forward," he says. "And that's a very good sign
  for investors."

I didn't record myself, but it sounds like me.  Sacred cows get you into trouble.  You have to constantly test, try new things.

But the CEO of Burst Media didn't agree with me.  Picking up on my quote, in the HuffingtonPost.com "Google Should Not Give Up the Sanctity of Its Homepage" Mr. Coffin takes me to task for violating what he considers a sacred public trust.  He fears that anything added to the Google homepage creates cracks in Google's foundation putting the company at risk.

How does anyone in web marketing get so Locked-in?  It just goes to show that you don't have to be old, or a big company, or have a lot of money to be Locked-in to something.  Google's homepage isn't even a decade old.  Nor is Burst Media, an on-line marketing company, I don't think.  But here a reputation leader in on-line marketing is working, working hard actually, to defend a sacred cow.  "Sanctity" of a web page??? Give me a break.

Google has excelled, grown and made more money, because it has been willing to Disrupt its Success Formula and use White Space to test new things.  That's why it's become a household name – and in the process almost singlehandedly destroyed the newspaper industry.  And now is threatening to change how we do personal computing (with Chrome) and enterprise applications (with Google Wave) and even mobile computing (with Android and Nexus One).  Google should consider nothing sacred, because that's the kind of Lock-in which kills tech companies. Sun Microsystems was busy protecting its sanctity while the market shifted right out from under it

Lock-in is inevitable.  But winners – those who grow and make above average rates of return – learn how to manage Lock-in.  They are willing to Disrupt and use White Space.  Good for Google.  I would have expected nothing less!