I'd have to disagree that "marketing" is what accounts for the pattern of Google leading web technologies into ubiquity. I think the very precise engineering they put into making a great product, then the massive user adoption that follows, is what allows for other websites to use similar technologies with confidence. In other words, the fact that Google implements something gives that implementation both massive social proof, and user familiarity.
Granted, it's not all about engineering and a huge user base. If you replaced the word "marketing" with "buzz," I would tend to agree with you. If there's one thing that's become apparent to me recently, it's that nearly any idea, product, person, place, tv show, etc, can be validated by generating a shitstorm of buzz about it. I suspect there's some reptilian instinct that changes the way we view things if we see others accepting it, and media attention, though often a misrepresentation, does the trick. For companies like Google and Apple, buzz is almost too easy.
Granted, it's not all about engineering and a huge user base. If you replaced the word "marketing" with "buzz," I would tend to agree with you. If there's one thing that's become apparent to me recently, it's that nearly any idea, product, person, place, tv show, etc, can be validated by generating a shitstorm of buzz about it. I suspect there's some reptilian instinct that changes the way we view things if we see others accepting it, and media attention, though often a misrepresentation, does the trick. For companies like Google and Apple, buzz is almost too easy.