Google Redux
September 15, 2011
“Are Google’s Best Days Behind It?” asks Infoworld. Co-founder Larry Page, who assumed the CEO position earlier this year, hopes to steer giant Google to achieve the “nimbleness and soul and passion and speed of a startup.” Writer Neil McAllister thinks that’s too much of a stretch.
In fact, McAllister points to many reasons Google is poised to diminish. Its sheer size, for one, will inhibit that hope of Page’s. There’s also the fierce competition the company is up against in its every endeavor. Also, Google’s reliance on advertising dollars over subscription fees may limit its opportunities. Changes in the development process, says McAllister, are stifling innovation. And, of course, we can’t forget the company’s legal challenges and privacy complaints.
This lengthy piece concludes with this observation:
[Google] is a large and growing corporation, with obligations to its shareholders, its customers, and its staff. Among those obligations are to use its resources wisely, to compete vigorously, and to protect the interests of its customers, including their privacy. But perhaps above all else, it must also learn to assess itself honestly and recognize that its days as an arcadia for hacker savants may be coming to an end. It’s time for Google to graduate.
I asked Stephen E Arnold for his take on this assessment. His response: “Google’s been on the wrong side of the happiness curve since early 2007. The cause is a combination of factors, including management, competition, and legal issues.”
Indeed.
Cynthia Murrell, September 15, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
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