Through detailed observation of the Analytics Academy, Adwords Academy, and YouTube Creators Academy, this article critically reflects on the way Google shapes the evolution of professional communication. The sociosemiotic analysis reveals a sophisticated program of training, evaluation, and certification, which goes far beyond the primary goal of facilitating software use. Not only is the company slowly tightening its grip on skills, knowledge, norms, and values in the communications sector, but it is also facilitating their dissemination across a wide variety of social and organizational contexts, gradually blurring the boundaries between experts and lay people, and between professionals and amateurs.
Keywords
- sociosemiotic
- professionalization
- expertise
- mediation of practices
- tutorial
- Adwords
- analytics
- Youtube