One of the classes I am taking right now is IT Management and we had the pleasure of reading a case for discussion this week on Google. This was of particular interest to me because of my profession, but I knew I had to be good, and let others make their points. This class is all about participation, not being a smart—.
So I sat back and was very good, and took notes. No not for class purposes, but as a marketer. This was the greatest focus group I could ever ask for, real users with no agenda. There were three things that stood out other than the fact that everyone thinks Google can do no wrong (I’m kidding).
1. One classmate compared Google to Enron – HUH?
Yeah, I am not kidding here. One guy said that Google isn’t transparent in its accounting practices and since there is no “product” that there is a higher possibility that there is fraud happening. I didn’t buy it, barely understood his point, but thought I would send it out to the masses and see if anyone in Search Marketing agreed.
2. Google’s only downfall is going to be a change in focus/people.
The only downfall we could all agree on for Google (why their growth wouldn’t be sustainable) is if their focus changed from the “Don’t Be Evil” core in search. As time goes on, we all know there is a possibility that Google will change as the people change. It is their people and their ethics that keep them doing such a good job. If they lose the focus on the end user, balls will drop all over the place and then they will crash.
3. There is still a minor fear in privacy concerns.
Our professor brought up the web history thing (to which I pointed out that you can opt out, not login and delete history) but at least most people understood that it is that information that Google uses to make the results better. I still have to point out that no matter what Google knows about us, our ISPs know more. So whatever.
There was one part even that I asked everyone in the class who used MySpace (people were very reluctant to raise their hands, interesting) and then followed up asking who used the search bar in MySpace. I was proving a point that people do in fact leave MySpace to search, my professor diagreed. But even that small poll was very insightful.
What do you think? Is Google going to fail like Enron?? 🙂
3 Comments
Add Yours →Addressing the second point, I don’t think Google’s focus will ever stray from a focus on the end user. Understanding the different end users is such a huge reason Google is so successful.
In regards to the 3rd point, sure there are still privacy concerns but I think you’ll find that the majority of these concerns stem from the older generation. However, I do feel there should be a limit on how much Google knows about us.
Those are very interesting points of view. I think it was awesome that you were able to simply sit back and listen. It must have been so interesting to get feedback from those with probably little experience in the field. Thanks for sharing this!
I think that Google could be more transparent when it comes to paid search.
For example it would be really interesting to see all the queries your ads are displayed for rather than just the queries for which your ad was clicked.
Re the Enron thing – sorry I don’t get it!
I would love to have been a fly on the wall in that class, sounds really interesting!