Every now and then, search giant Google surprises me. It’s happened again today – and I’m not referring to the privacy concerns surrounding the company’s foray into social networks.

Let me explain. I got hooked watching the mens’ snowboard cross event in the Winter Olympics last night. It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a sport that’s so instantly watchable and packed with drama.

If you’ve not had the pleasure, watch the BBC’s short highlights of the action to see what I’m on about.

I heard on the radio that the ladies’ event is tonight and wanted to find out when it starts. Turning to Google was the obvious option, so I entered winter olympics snowboard cross times into the search engine.

What happened? I got exactly the information I wanted, displayed bang at the top of the search results, in UK time, with links through to the Winter Games site for more information.

Stuff like this must drive Google’s competitors mad.

Directory enquiries service 118118.com has traditionally relied on hairy athletes, a reworking of the theme tune from Rocky and promotional stunts involving handing out “118” jogging vests for advertising.

However, this market is a crowded one, so maybe it’s no surprise that as well as broadening its services to include restaurant reservations and cinema listings, 118118.com has started to try a new tack with its advertising.

I spotted the advert pictured above on the tube the other day. It made me chuckle when I saw it, and I think it works well for three reasons:

• It fits the location. I saw this particular advert on the Bakerloo Line and it features a reimagined tube map. That’s clearly not a coincidence.
• It’s bang on for an audience of Londoners. Seeing the renamed station Piccalilli Circus will surely raise a smile, even on the humourless tube.
• It keeps the elements of whimsy and fun that are so crucial to the brand. Ever since those joggers, 118118 has tried to have fun.

As an effort to wrestle market share away from the other 118-alikes, I think this is a good attempt. Have any adverts caught your eye lately?

If you run your own business and have been looking for advice online lately, you might have stumbled upon one of the Donut websites. There are three of them at the moment, providing marketing advice, help starting a business and legal assistance.

All the content on these sites is written and reviewed by experts so you can be sure you’re getting tip-top advice to run your company. Having said that, I’d better declare a vested interest: there’s another Donut in the pipeline and I’m hard at work on it at the moment.

While you’re waiting for that to emerge, how about dipping in to the existing sites now? Appropriate places to start might be these tips on working with a copywriter and how to write web copy that gets the job done.