Google Inc -- Ten Years Old!

Do you Google?

Odds are that you do. Probably several times a day as you wend your way about the internet.

Google started out modestly but effectively Sept 7, 1998 by two Stanford University students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who on September 7, 2008 are still involved in the company's daily operations. Their search engine, Google, revolutionized search technology, creating fast, accurate results, gathered from millions, now billions of web pages. Today Google is a world wide company with 25,000 employees, a market capitalization of 150 billion dollars, and annual income of 16 billion dollars. Google (NASDAQ GOOG) is now a public traded and owned company with a current share price of $444.25.

When Google started out, it seemed preposterous to think of it as a money making business. How could simple search results make money? Google developed a simple effective strategy employing the user's interests in fostering a "click to pay" advertising system they named Google Adsense. Small text ads are placed next to search results, web pages, blog entries. A searcher clicks on ad and goes to the company's link. Income is generated both for the company and Google. Most of Google's revenues come from this system.

To celebrate its 10th birthday Google launched an internet browser, Google Chrome, as part of its long term strategy for the next 10 years. A video interview conducted by Financial Times United States Managing Editor Chrystia Freeland with Google CEO Eric Schmidt, explores Google's strategy for introducing Google Chrome. The unique features of Google Chrome are explored in a comic book by Scott McCloud, commissioned by Google. Since Google has partnership with internet browser Firefox, was another browser needed? Schmidt's answer is that Google Chrome takes a different path than Firefox. It is application, online software oriented, not simply web page gatherer. Google sees the dominant trend away from desktop applications to fully only online mostly free applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, email, business tools, file storage, and collaborative efforts, presentations and publishing.

Google Chrome is wholly free and open source, its code available to all, including its competitors. Firefox, which is also open source and non profit, has benefitted from the creative efforts of individual developers who have made Firefox a major force through its system of add-ons tailored to Firefox. Google Chrome cannot use Firefox add-ons but presumably developers will create add-ons for Google Chrome. Until then committed Firefox users will probably stay with Firefox. Microsoft, which controls 90% market share of Operating Systems (Windows), has seen a steady decline in its browser dominance since the introduction of Firefox. Internet Explorer currently holds 72% market share with Firefox nearly 20% and Apple's Safari 6.37%.
Much of Microsoft's dominance has come from its operating system bundling of Internet Explorer begun with Windows 95 and relationships with OEM's (Original Equipment Manufacturers), a strategy that effectively put Netscape out of business and catapulted Microsoft into years of battling claims of monopolistic practices in US and European courts.

Google dominates the Search environment with marketshare of 80% of all searches globally, followed by Yahoo with 12% and MSN (Microsoft network) with 3.46%. Besides Google Search Google provides 40+ fully developed internet services and applications, including GMail, You Tube, Blogger, Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Desktop, Reader, Notebook, Calendar, Google News and the list goes on. GMail with 7+ gigabytes of free storage forms the basis of a Google account and provides access to all services. Google Chrome's unique capacity allow individual web pages to be rendered as separate tabs, with a task manager for each tab. What this means is that computer memory is managed allowing for speed without accumulating so much memory that computer crashes. For each page Firefox and Internet Explorer gathers computer memory is tasked accumulatively, slowing performance down to a standstill if you have several windows open. Google Chrome is competitive as a memory management system and that speaks to its overall strategy of allowing multiple applications without unduly taxing computer memory.

Google wants to provide quick, easy access to information you want; allow you to use online word processors, spreadsheets, whatever application it is you want to use, and provide you with unlimited storage for all your files. That is the Google strategy for the next 10 years. It sees the internet as one vast operating system not owned by any one group, fostered by open access and open source for all who want to make use of these services. For businesses this represents almost unlimited opportunity.

Happy Birthday Google!

Want to read more about Google, see The Google Story by David A. Vise, Make Easy Money With Google: Using the Adsense Advertising Program by Eric Giguere, Google and the Mission to Map Meaning and Make Money by Bart Milner, and The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google by Nicholas Carr. For Microsoft see Mary Jo Foley's Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era. All these works are available from the Berkshire Athenaeum or your local library. Google's philosophy and much other information is on its corporate web page. Up-to-minute information about Google Chrome and other products can be gotten from search on Google News with the product of your choice as search item.