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Can Google ever be a product company?
I've always given Google high marks for innovation. On the other side of the coin, I've always given them low marks for their [in]ability to manage product life cycles. This article from Business Insider outlines some of Google's most recent attempts at product launches. Add other misfires like Buzz and Wave, and their track record doesn't look that great.
What do you think Google needs to do to improve their ability to deliver something besides "beta" products that they can pull at will? Can Google be a product company? Or maybe there's another question in there... "should" Google be a product company?
Thoughts?
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2 Answers
Yes, Google can hire talent and do products well. They have enormous resources. You can frame Buzz and Wave as failures, but Google may frame those trial and error. When a company has the magnitude of resources of a Google, massive cash flow from core businesses, in this case adwords, they can afford large scale trail and error.
Another thought on products, Google may be more inclined to develop and license key components of products as opposed to controlling an entire product end-to-end. This may fit their philosophy better.
Google would need to change its culture somewhat in order to be an effective products company. It's not impossible for them, but I don't see them doing it under the current regime.
They are, at best, a services company that offers some cool products. Their real business is advertising, powered by search. They lack the proper customer support infrastructure of a products company that caters to anyone outside their own organization. They lack the proper documentation infrastructure of a products company that caters to anyone that is not highly technical. They lack enterprise focus, despite having enterprise capabilities.
They *could* change -- more easily than many other organizations, because they do have bright people and lots of resources. But, I don't see any impetus for them to change in the near-term.
Everything they do today is centered around being able to sell advertising. They will not move away from that without some sort of major epiphany or significant duress.
The integration with Motorola will be quite interesting...
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