Google says social media is just one part of its approach.

Parcel delivery firms wanting to hit the top of Google's rankings have been told social media is just one element in its core strategy.

According to an Agence-France Presse report, Google chief financial officer Patrick Pichette explained that search is the company's key product, though many of its other offerings "are having phenomenal trajectories".

Speaking to Australian public television, he said: "The digital world is exploding and it has so many chapters - it has cloud computing, it has mobile, it does have social, it has searches, it has so many elements."

He added that while social media will be "embedded" in many products, it will be just "one chapter of an entire book".

The extent of social media in people's daily lives was highlighted in a recent survey from hotel group Sheraton, which showed 39 per cent of people cannot live without a regular dose of Facebook or Twitter.

Posted by Rob Elliott

Article Added: 22/11/2010 09:30:30