Search Engine Optimization
Based in the Ottawa area, we help our clients with their computer and Internet needs. Our specialty is modifying our client's website content to ensure that search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing give it a high ranking. In addition, we offer assistance in the design of web stores to simplify the shopping experience and enhance revenue.
While search engine optimization (SEO) is our specialty our clients often have other computer related needs. Our expertise allows us to help our clients in a variety of ways. We also offer webmaster services, computer network services, data recovery and other computer services.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Nexus 1
As far as I knew Google was strictly a software company whose focus has always been to make things faster and easier. (And yes... they sell advertising too...) Today, Google has launched the Nexus 1 which looks curiously similar to Apple's
(I'd like to thank AppleInsider.com for this photo I snagged from their site.)
The question on my mind is: Why? Google introduced an operating system for phones called android. I would not say that it flopped but right now the
Does this represent a change in Google's direction and, if so, what would be the logical next step? There are rumours of a netbook or perhaps tablet device coming soon. Apple is likely to launch such a device this year which will give them a first to market advantage. I am inclined to believe that Google will not target markets that are saturated with adequate products that are very inexpensive. (The Nexus 1 costs $530 unlocked. That could buy you decent entry-level laptop these days and my guess is that the next device will be more expensive than their phone.)
Looking beyond the tablet what is there??? There are a lot of niches (both in hardware and software) that Google could get into. How about Google Navigator? Is it software that integrates with Google Maps and Google Earth or is it a GPS device? The answer is yes!
Google Games? (They could provide an API to developers and allow free use of games while splitting advertising revenue with game developers.)
Google Virtual Office? (A more intuitive approach to an operating system where devices and floor plans are clear. When your printer has a GPS in it the virtual office will ensure that documents a provided to the right location instantly. If your office is in Toronto and your colleague works in New York you print documents to the printer in their office automatically, provided you are authorized to do so.)
Google Archive? (Store a copy of everything you have for free in exchange for watching some advertising when you store it.)
I see Google facing a serious problem in the future. That problem is not brand identity. It is that Google is simply getting too big. Microsoft had difficulties when it gave away Internet Explorer with Windows. As a company some of there practices were determined to be anti-competitive. While that may be it is apparent that they were also ahead of their time. When Google released the Chrome browser, which is free as well, they did not have that kind of difficulty. That said, Google does not have a lock on the operating system market the way Microsoft did with PCs. The problem is that their presence on the Net is ubiquitous almost to the point of being overwhelming.
As much as I like Google there comes a point where they are big enough to take over markets for the sole purpose of pushing their own advertising. (For example: if you Google "best smart phone" how do you know if Google salted the results to help out the Nexus 1?) When that point gets closer things will get very interesting.
Ancient Chinese Curse: "May you live in interesting times."
Labels: Google Services
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I think the biggest reason for Google to offer a phone is to drive down the cost of cell-phones. Even though the Nexus 1 is expensive, the next-generation Nexus will be cheaper. Once the cell-phone gets below the $200 price point (with Android), all of a sudden the billion people who live in poor countries will suddenly have access to all of the services of the Internet. I think that Google is going after those eyeballs.
The other thing that Android does is to raise the competition in the space of smart phones. The only response of RIM and Apple that makes sense in the long run is to lower the cost of their device and raise the cost of their services. This is where Google can beat both companies because Google can then subsidize those services with ad revenues.
Google will be hard to take down in an anti-trust lawsuit. They hardly make money from licensing software. They have many competitors in the PPC advertising domain (such as AdBrite, Yahoo, Microsoft), the ads for games space (Massive, DoubleFusion), the online office apps space (Microsoft Live Docs, Zoho, NumSum) etc. And they have a dominant position because of the large percentage of users that prefer to use Google over Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines. (Microsoft and IBM had similar dominance because they influenced key decision makers to force their solutions on their users). In other technologies, Google open-sources the code, which allows others to use Google's assets to compete against Google (Android, Chrome, Gears, V8 JSVM). In other areas, Google writes about its solutions so that others can build competing products (e.g. Google published the paper on Map-Reduce, and some Java folks used it to build Hadoop).
The other thing that Android does is to raise the competition in the space of smart phones. The only response of RIM and Apple that makes sense in the long run is to lower the cost of their device and raise the cost of their services. This is where Google can beat both companies because Google can then subsidize those services with ad revenues.
Google will be hard to take down in an anti-trust lawsuit. They hardly make money from licensing software. They have many competitors in the PPC advertising domain (such as AdBrite, Yahoo, Microsoft), the ads for games space (Massive, DoubleFusion), the online office apps space (Microsoft Live Docs, Zoho, NumSum) etc. And they have a dominant position because of the large percentage of users that prefer to use Google over Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines. (Microsoft and IBM had similar dominance because they influenced key decision makers to force their solutions on their users). In other technologies, Google open-sources the code, which allows others to use Google's assets to compete against Google (Android, Chrome, Gears, V8 JSVM). In other areas, Google writes about its solutions so that others can build competing products (e.g. Google published the paper on Map-Reduce, and some Java folks used it to build Hadoop).
Thanks for the comment Jay!
I saw an article somewhere indicating that the iPhone is $800 which seems ridiculous but I guess it makes the Nexus 1 look affordable. In time it will be available as a toy in a box of Shreddies or in the middle of an over sized Kinder Egg but for now its just another expensive smart phone.
You have made an excellent point though. An inexpensive mobile device makes a great system to providing advertising and will likely produce big dividends for Google in time.
Regarding anti-trust... I have my doubts. There are many great arguments to be made for both sides. Although Google provides a lot of open source software the inner workings of their search engine is a closely guarded secret. Now that they have a "product" for sale they are in a position to push their product using their search engine. I have no reason to believe that they are doing this or plan to do this but if they chose to do so who would know? If Apple or RIM should launch a civil suit the only way to clearly determine that Google is not using their search engine to promote their phone (or anything else) would be to disclose their search engine algorithm.
To avoid this, Google might split into two companies in which the search engine side of things is separated from anything one would think of as a product for sale.
I saw an article somewhere indicating that the iPhone is $800 which seems ridiculous but I guess it makes the Nexus 1 look affordable. In time it will be available as a toy in a box of Shreddies or in the middle of an over sized Kinder Egg but for now its just another expensive smart phone.
You have made an excellent point though. An inexpensive mobile device makes a great system to providing advertising and will likely produce big dividends for Google in time.
Regarding anti-trust... I have my doubts. There are many great arguments to be made for both sides. Although Google provides a lot of open source software the inner workings of their search engine is a closely guarded secret. Now that they have a "product" for sale they are in a position to push their product using their search engine. I have no reason to believe that they are doing this or plan to do this but if they chose to do so who would know? If Apple or RIM should launch a civil suit the only way to clearly determine that Google is not using their search engine to promote their phone (or anything else) would be to disclose their search engine algorithm.
To avoid this, Google might split into two companies in which the search engine side of things is separated from anything one would think of as a product for sale.
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