Perhaps more than launching its big, new program, Brin said he hopes the announcement will funnel top clean-tech job applicants to Google.

FORBES: Google Goes Green

This happened because the complicated formula constructed to try to funnel the top two teams into the designated Big Game ended up leaving out USC (rated No. 1 in the polls of sportswriters and coaches) in favor of Louisiana State and Oklahoma.

FORBES: The BCS Mess Restores The Rose Bowl's Luster

Brand advertising creates awareness, favorability and consideration at the top of the funnel, while search slightly overlaps with consideration and intent to purchase.

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This is how syndicated commerce extends performance-based advertising by going the last mile and linking ad dollars at the top of the funnel to revenue conversion.

FORBES: The Local Deals Market Version 2.0: Syndicated Commerce

And, of course, most important of all, it brings more people into the top of your sales funnel, and has a direct impact on revenue growth.

FORBES: How Content Marketing Can Lead to a Long Fulfilling Relationship With Your Customers

You can use it to inform both the top and bottom of the funnel.

FORBES: What Startup Buyout Frenzy Says About Social Media's Future

Online retailers have to consider changing the focus away from pushing top-of-the-funnel visitors straight into transactions to making it easier for their undecided site visitors to share the products on their feeds and help expand your funnel.

FORBES: D-Commerce And The Pixel Web: The Future Of E-tailing

It also has added to the company's clout because as a browser maker it can help define the kinds of new graphical features that can be used by sites across the Web as well as helping Google funnel Web surfers to its dominant Internet-search engine, the top driver of Google's revenue.

WSJ: Google's Chrome Surpasses Firefox as No. 2 Browser to Internet Explorer

We threw the flaming wad in the sink and ran back to the pan, where our first and only funnel cake was sizzling loudly, burnt black on the bottom and raw on top.

NPR: The Curious Incident of the Funnel Cake in the Lawn