Google recently launched a number of experiments; two of the more compelling experiments (in my opinion) are the timeline view and the map view. On first glance, these may just seem like cool features-to me they are much more than that. A few things are being accomplished here:

Preservation of our history in a way that no text book has ever been able to achieve
- History is often subject to the will of its teller; now we can read history through the words of many tellers, in an organized fashion-getting a well rounded story

Organization of relevant data into linear stories

Creation of visual elements to help tell the story (e.g. maps)

The ability to bring associations between your query and other relevant information to the forefront
- The number one result for "Thomas Jefferson" always contained the information that he is buried on his Monticello estate, in Charlottesville, Virginia

Now we get that information much quicker due to the fact that it is brought to the immediate forefront in the form of a map.

Obviously, the implications of these experiments are tremendous for students and educators. The question is what does this mean for your brand?

1. If you are not paying attention to your Google results because you are not interested in site traffic (I cannot imagine why you would not be interested in site traffic, but the way some brands do search marketing leads me to believe they don't really care), you may want to start paying attention to your search rankings for reputation management

a. The history of your brand is being written; whether or not you help tell it

2.       Make sure that all of the information you want known about your brand is published on a well optimized, HTML/CSS driven page

3.       If you have local information about your business (retail stores etc.) make sure that you list that information in Google's Local Business Center

4.       Write a knol about your brand (not sure where this is headed, but just do it-it is a Google product and Google rules the world)

5.       Create your own Google Maps (again, not sure if Google is using user generated maps, but one day they might)

6.       Submit online press releases (PR Web, PR Newsire etc.) for all quasi monumental items related to your brand-if for no other reason, Google seems to like these and they get ranked; which makes your news official

7.       Along the same lines as number six, start a news page about your brand, and base it on a blog platform (Wordpress would be my suggestion)

8.       Distribute your content across the web-create outposts on information portals like Zimbo, Squidoo etc. I am not sold on the inherent value of these from a user perspective, but they still seem to be ranking fairly well

Bottom Line:

1.       Feed Google as much data as possible

2.       Distribute your data

I am sure there is a whole lot more you can do-I am waiting for the community to weigh in.