Google: Business Planning at the Highest Level Revealed

August 30, 2021

Here’s the recipe. Hire people who were spark plugs in their high school’s science club, on the math team, and participated in quick recall competitions with other like minded people. Then create teams and when something generates money, “put wood behind it.” This is a high school science club sports reference because everyone knows about baseball. Playing it? Sure, on the softball fields adjacent El Camino.

What’s the result?

The answer is brilliantly presented in “A Decade and a Half of Instability: The History of Google Messaging Apps.” The write up runs about 24,000 words. For reference, a “real book” is usually in the neighborhood of 100,000 words. This article is definitely in the Kindle self published target zone. But the inclusion of nifty graphics like the image illustrating the old and new approach to one of Google’s chat services; namely, a different icon:

The write up is an excellent summary, and it illustrates Google’s number two approach to innovation: Just put stuff up and see what gets clicks. No clicks, no problem. Try, try again. (In case you have not read my previous Google write ups, the company’s number one method of innovation is “me too.” Example: Inspiration from Yahoo and Overture monetization methods. As I say, “Google made lots of money; therefore, live with it.)

Please, read the source document in its entirety. I will offer a few observations:

Gee, Google has been trying to get sustainable traction in the chat space for a long time
Some of the ideas were good but suffered a remarkable deterioration under Google’s stewardship; for example Transformics’ technology which inspired Wave.
Clear evidence that high school science club management methods were the inspiration for the film “Animal House.” Boy, does this product/service run down make Googzilla look confused, indifferent, distracted, or (maybe) dissociated.

I am waiting for “Animal House II: The Google Years.”

Stephen E Arnold, August 30, 2021

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, Google, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.