Are Panda and Android Influencing One Another?
August 5, 2011
I admit that the juxtaposition of the Panda initiative to improve Google search results and Android mobile operating system juggernaut are an odd couple. What gave me the idea was the article “Windows Phone Revenue “Abysmal”, Still Better Than Android.” The article explains that the Windows Phone is not generating a great deal of revenue in terms of Microsoft’s cash throughput. Here’s the passage that caught my attention:
Nick Eaton of the Seattle PI calls this “abysmal” and depending on how you look at it, perhaps. Compared to Xbox, sure. Compared to Android? Not so much. After all, Google makes $0 from Android sales, though they do take in some money through the limited advertising on the phone. In that sense, making money off of the OS is not Google’s goal, but market saturation is. The same is the same for Microsoft at this point. While they do charge for licenses, it’s not exactly an area of revenue for them, nor are they banking on it (pun alert). However, neither was Xbox which took 5 years to turn a profit (and after losing billions). [Emphasis added.]
My thought is that Panda may be a significant step because the changes are designed to keep traditional online Web ad revenues pumping cash. My hunch is that my juxtapositions are often off the bull’s eye. On the other hand, my idea is anchored in what seems to be a simple assertion in the Phone Revenue Abysmal write up.
I am now at lunch (August 1, 2011) and here are the three points from the goslings (my code work for my colleagues):
- Panda and Android are not related. Google will monetize Android at some point in the future.
- Panda is more important as a signal that Google has work to do with its core relevance method.
- Google has to get more money from Panda because Android and other mobile devices forces a different approach to search.
I am going to stick with the revenue issue and I like the point about changing search behavior. Stay tuned.
Stephen E Arnold, August 5, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
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