Google Needs Ideas, Says the Independent
December 5, 2008
After the London Times muffed the ball with its Microsoft Yahoo deal, the Independent is reporting that Google needs ideas. You can read the full text of the story here. According to “Google Staff Searching for Fresh Ideas” by Steve Foley, Google’s engineers have to spend less time of personal projects and more time to find ways to squeeze more juice from the Google data farm. For me the most important comment reminded me how dependent on advertising Google remains after such high profile revenue initiatives as enterprise search sales. Here’s what Mr. Foley said:
Google’s ad revenues are still growing at a rate of one-third a year, but just three years ago they were doubling annually, and analysts are forecasting the online advertising market will be little better than flat this year. Google makes effectively all its money selling ads next to its search results.
Do I believe that Google is indeed making big moves to remain in front of the tidal wave of financial misfortune? Nope. Not for a New York minute. I think Google is taking advantage of the present economic crisis to chop away some of the excesses of Google’s early hubris and unusual business decisions. The GOOG is in a much better position than some other companies. Google has many ways to turn on nrew revenue streams, and it has a significant lead in infrastructure. I think Google is like one of those mixed martial arts fight clubs. The weaker members of the team and some distractions are being eliminated.
Stephen Arnold, December 5, 2008
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