Teens think Google is cooler than Apple (says Google survey)
Commentary: Google's "It's Lit" survey offers some serendipitous results. Sample: Facebook is less cool than Walmart.
Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.
They just love Google. Says Google.
Among teens, cool is surely a temporary phenomenon.
They're fickle beings, their excitement being incited by seemingly 10 different things a day.
Yet a new study (PDF) insists that teens have some definitive feelings about certain brands.
One result that stood out for me was that Google is apparently cooler than Apple. This stood out because the study was presented by, well, Google.
(Google commissioned three surveys to compile its insights. The surveys polled US teens ages 13-17 as well as US millennials ages 18-25 between May 2016 and July 2016.)
Indeed, there are only two brands that are cooler than Google, if you believe these figures: Netflix and, right at the top, YouTube. Which is owned by, oh, Google.
Apple, on the other hand, is left to slum it with Nike. Ahead of these two seminal brands are Doritos, Xbox, Oreo and GoPro. Oh, and Chrome. Which is owned by, well, Google.
Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.
It may be that the minute teens see the word "Google," or even espy the logo, their innards leap for joy and they pray that one day they'll be allowed to work in Google's inner sanctum.
There's some evidence, however, that might contradict this survey. The Piper Jaffray survey of teens, a biannual affair, consistently has them adoring the iPhone and rather snorting at Android.
Indeed, this Google survey does concede that the coolest things in tech are virtual/augmented reality, smartphones and "all things iOS."
Whither, then, the Apple brand? Do teens not think that iOS is Apple?
It's not easy for a 40-year-old like Apple to appeal to teens. So far, though, the company seems to have survived quite well.
According to this survey, though, Facebook has a lot of work to do. It's apparently less cool than Walmart. It's also less cool than Wendy's, Verizon, Nestle and Costco. None of which is (yet) owned by Google.
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