What's Wrong with Being a Verb?

Apparently google has been added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary as a verb, according to Ars Technica. Honestly, it's been in common usage as a verb for quite some time. I mean, it's even been blessed by TV shows, as I've seen it used as a verb on shows like CSI and Law and Order: Criminal Intent ("I googled for so-and-so's info").

At any rate, Google is not happy with being labeled a verb. And it has some valid reasons, though of course most people would kill for this kind of notoriety.

Google no doubt fears that the world will go the way of "hoover," which has become a generic term for "vacuum" in the UK. If "google" ever comes to mean "I searched for it on the Internet," the company's careful branding and promotion will be diluted and the name will lose value.

I can see their point, because people think of Kleenex as a universal term for facial tissue, and Xerox as a term for copying ... two common terms that are so prevalent that they have lost all branding significance. I'm not sure there's a way back at this point.

Tags: Google