Yesterday I recommended that the Google investor watch Seth Godin's presentation to Googlers in Mountain View. Here are a couple more reasons to watch the whole 48-minute video:

1. Godin calls 'em like he sees 'em.
2. Minute Maid lemonade has "zero percent juice," but still commands a big share of the market. Google has lots of "juice," and is riding the wave of unintentional marketing decisions made years ago -- but if Google doesn't learn to effectively market and maintain its brand, Google will go the way of technology dinosaurs like Digital Equipment.
3. Godin answers the Google Mini product manager by saying the Google Mini may be a great product, but nobody knows about it. Google needs to start a conversation about it, and get out of the way.
4. Google Maps is a cool product that doesn't solve anyone's problem. Only the digerati elite have an "AJAX problem" that needs to be solved, while the ordinary person is just fine with MapQuest.
5. Google needs a strategy for what types of products will fill big needs and that "want to spread," not just "doing all the things that pop into people's heads that can be done.
6. "When we look at fashions that succeed, ... it doesn't really have a lot to do with the last 500 people who perfected it. It usually has a lot more to do instead with being in the right place at the right time with the right story."
7. "I think you have to take a deep breath and spend an hour" with each product, "and ask 'what's our story,' and should we cancel this right now before it's too late."

More from the Google Maps discussion:

Googler: I was wondering if you had an opinion on what we did wrong with Google Maps. It was really amazing when it came out two years ago, and it spread among all nerd-dom, but my sister visted me over the weekend and she had MapQuest maps, which was a dagger through my heart. And now Yahoo has scrollable maps, Microsoft has scrollable maps, and we've got this cool thing, but nobody knows about it.

Seth Godin: Problem number one is when you launched Google Maps, for most people who need to get to their hotel, they didn't have a map problem. The digerati had an AJAX map problem, there wasn't one. But I didn't have a directions map problem. And the amazing thing about Google Maps, after you first looked at it and realized how cool it was, it was really hard to print, and it was really hard to get the driving directions so I could take them with me when I went. So it's really cool and fun to do so I can look at my backyard with the satellite, so the digerati and the BoingBoing people, we all went crazy. And it made it to the Times yesterday with the Sopranos, it's a really cool gimmick .... but it's not solving anyone's problem, it's an entertainment vehicle.

Mysteriously, it looks like part of the presentation was censored. Between minute 44 and minute 45, the presentation skips something, and you can hear Godin saying, "... because real radio doesn't feel broken." Seems like a continuation of the Google Maps discussion, but I can't really tell what was censored.

Don't you think it's kind of not that smart for Google to be releasing this kind of stuff?

To have their employees asking these frank questions and this guy saying - well you screwed the pooch is kind of not great PR.    

Isn't that the whole point, though? Seth Godin writes and speaks about using authenticity and conversations to build trust and "ideaviruses", and treating your customers as intelligent people. This is in stark contrast to typical mass-marketing that tries to force-feed marketing propaganda to "consumers."

It's not PR, it's a conversation. Google hasn't been known for this kind of openness, but it's refreshing that Google is getting their product managers exposed to this kind of thinking, and it's pretty cool that Google would release (and even host) content that is critical of them.

Now if I knew what was censored between minute 44 and 45, maybe I'd reconsider my accolades for openness!