Does Google have a monopoly in the advertisement business? Will Google finally topple Microsoft's throne in the technological sector? These questions are recently coming to my mind as I think about Google. Socialnomics , a book written by Erik Qualman, came to my attention through Guerson Meyers blog. It poses the idea that we are living in a world far different than the one we used to live a fews years ago, essentially it says that social media is the biggest thing since the industrial evolution (see below link for a great video on Socialnomics).
Even though Google is not a social media site, it is for now the platform of choice for companies and people looking for exposure and advertisement. In this "Brave New World", it seems to me that a company like Google will be an unstoppable force that dominates every aspect of the online experience. If you believe for a second in this concept of Socialnomics, which by the way makes a lot of sense, then you begin to realize that sooner rather than later advertisements through TV and radio will become extinct, gone, a thing of the past. Several studies clearly show that people skip commercial while watching TV and consumers don't like being bombarded by advertisements. So with this in mind companies more and more are relying on Google for advertisements. Google's advertisement revenues in 2008 was $21 billion and it is showing no signs of slowing down.
Google is a monster in the advertisement arena, no one even comes close to compete with them. It is the Microsoft of the 90s in the online advertisement industry. A company's worst nightmare would be to be banned from Google's search list. In fact, in a recent class lecture of Enrique Dans he mentioned the idea of being banned from Google as an end of the world scenario. In my mind I actually felt an actual fear from his part to have something like this happen, and I think there is good reason for this concern. The fact is that in a world where TV is no longer the platform for advertisement, Google will be the markets main advertisement tool. To be banned from a platform like this could represent millions of USD. Who ever heard of a company being banned from advertising on TV? Granted there are other alternatives like Microsoft but they are so far behind that there is just no way to compare them to Google. I wonder when government regulators will start to look into this?
Dont start to think that I am by any chance against Google because I am a huge fan. In fact, going back to my second question, I think Google has the possibility to actually challenge Microsoft in its core business something that was thought to be impossible just a few years ago. Microsoft's biggest source of revenues still to this day remains its Windows and Office programs and Google is actually making a run to directly compete with Microsoft in this field. Google launched Google docs as an alternative to Office and after testing it for myself I have to say that it can easily serve as an adequate substitute to Word. Most of the features in Word are extra features that are seldom used and this is where Google focuses its strengths on, delivering solid basic features with the ability of allowing several users to work on the same document at the same time. To think that these are the first versions of these programs leads me to believe that eventually Google docs will be a major contender against Microsoft.
As for the OS, there is one main feature that has captured my attention. My biggest pet peeve with PC's was their long boot up time. According to some sources like the one below, one of Chromes OS main features will be speed booting and internet access in 2 secs. This is a dream! One of the reasons I was considering buying a Mac was because it had a much better boot up time but if Google is able to achieve this, then I am already converted. I mean who needs the glamour of a nice desktop background? Give me speed and fast performance any other day of the week and I'm happy.
In the end, I am curious to see how Google will continue to grow and what it will be like 5 years from now. My guess... bigger, better and scarier.
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