{"id":13681,"date":"2022-04-30T12:45:23","date_gmt":"2022-04-30T16:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thatwhitepaperguy.com\/?p=13681"},"modified":"2022-07-12T12:54:17","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T16:54:17","slug":"this-just-in-20-years-of-googling-white-papers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thatwhitepaperguy.com\/this-just-in-20-years-of-googling-white-papers\/","title":{"rendered":"This Just In: 20 years of Googling “white papers”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2002, I searched Google for \u201cwhite papers\u201d and got\u00a02.8 million hits.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, that didn\u2019t mean there were 2.8 million actual white papers out there. But people had mentioned that phrase online that many times.<\/p>\n

A decade later in 2012, the same search got 39.5 million<\/strong> hits: 14 times as many.<\/p>\n

\u201cWow!\u201d I said, \u201cWhite papers are getting huge!\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty years later in spring 2022, I ran the same search and nearly fell off my chair.<\/p>\n

Now that search yields\u00a0782 million <\/strong>hits.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s almost 20 times the hits of a decade earlier\u2026 and an unbelievable 279 times what I got 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

White papers have truly \u201carrived\u201d<\/h3>\n

I think we can all agree on that.<\/p>\n

White papers have gravitas, and a reputation for serious discussion that elevates them far above mere blog posts, case studies, or any other type of B2B content.<\/p>\n

In some sectors, a company isn\u2019t \u201creal\u201d until it has published a white paper.<\/p>\n

You can get tossed off a vendor shortlist if you don\u2019t have white papers.<\/p>\n

For many B2B marketers, white papers are a standard part of the toolkit. When they work, they work beautifully.<\/p>\n

White papers influence B2B buying decisions for many billions\u2014maybe trillions\u2014of dollars worth of products and services every year.<\/p>\n

Yet too much popularity can have a downside<\/h3>\n

The \u201cwhite paper\u201d label can be applied to any document\u2026 including many that don\u2019t live up to the name.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, the term \u2018white paper\u2019 has been warped as marketers have injected brand-forward content vs. delivering real value,\u201d says a\u00a0recent report from NetLine<\/a> (page 53).<\/p>\n

The last thing any B2B prospect looking at a white paper wants is a thinly veiled sales pitch.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said for years that the term \u201cwhite paper\u201d is being abused, watered down, and devalued.<\/p>\n

For some audiences, it\u2019s often better to use an alternate name, such as:<\/p>\n