Google: Chugging Forward with Oblivious Cyber Archaeologists
October 27, 2020
I read “Google’s 20-year Path from David to Goliath.” The article makes four points about the company’s 20 year journey from free Web search to “free” Web search. I agree with the points in general, but a bit of color for each puts the observations in context.
The first point made in the Axios write up is: “Google figured out how to make money.” I think it is useful to note that the way to make money was to emulate the Overture/GoTo “pay to play” approach to appearing in search results. Yahoo owned Overture. There was a legal spat between the two outstanding Silicon Valley outfits. After a negotiated deal, Google implemented a variant of the Overture system, and Yahoo banked about $1 billion. Key point: The making money was based on another outfit’s innovation. Cyber historians take note: The foundations of the Google are “interesting” and indicative of Googley behavior.
The second point is “Google bought other companies.” Indeed, Google did acquire companies and technologies and people. My research for my three Google monographs revealed that somehow Google has managed to keep details of some of the acquisitions out of the public eye. One example will illustrate what Google achieved. The firm acquired Transformics, a firm which developed technology to facilitate “knitting together” disparate items of data. Locating information about this deal and the Transformics’ data system is challenging. Some of Google’s capabilities are, therefore, essentially unknown.
The third point is “Google moved into all sorts of businesses beyond search.” As my blog Beyond Search documents, finding information is the fundamental function for any work or knowledge process in our digital world, what I call the “datasphere.” Google, therefore, did not move anywhere. People needing information flow to the service or services which enable them to “do work” or “perform a function.” The consequence is that Google is more pervasive than most pundits, experts, and analysts realize.
The fourth point is “Google built a free mobile operating system.” I would suggest that we are back at point number one. Google appropriated and diffused the operating system using the functions of two or three. Google’s technology can shape information and tap into the natural flow of users to information resources.
My key point: Google is a dynamic system built on feedback loops and creative inspiration from the work of others.
So what?
I learned after publishing my three Google monographs (2003 to 2008) that most Googlers don’t grasp the generative power of Google. If Googlers don’t get it, will those who proudly state, “I am an expert in doing research” understand the Google legacy. Well, the legacy is here and cyber historians have not seen the high-res picture yet.
Stephen E Arnold, October 27, 2020
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