As the 2008 presidential campaign gets rolling, Google Inc. wants to be every candidate’s running mate.
That was clear early one morning this month, when about 80 bleary-eyed political and advocacy group consultants crowded into a college lecture hall here and listened intently to campaign tips from an unlikely source: three guys from Google.
The trio, including the head of the company’s newly formed political sales team, conducted an hourlong seminar about maximizing Google’s products for political purposes, including what videos resonate on YouTube and how to propel websites up the search engine rankings.
“They’re more keen to the desires and the needs of the political campaigns,” Eric Anderson, online marketing director for the Republican National Committee, said after attending the company’s seminar.