He looked like a typical rival, but when Bill Gates announced to the world that “the honeymoon with Google will only last a few more years,” did he score a point?
The world has certainly moved on to Google-Ga-Ga, with search, Gmail, Adwords, Analytics, AdSense, and Toolbar causing a tumultuous storm. I have read countless articles and blogs proclaiming Google’s walk on the desktop as a curtain call for Microsoft. Google can now search the local machine, eventually power Internet boxes to replace Windows, and ultimately take control of the world!
Now, I’m certainly not denigrating Google, but that kind of talk seems crazy to me. Google has a powerful and technologically advanced search application. They built a great search architecture and built it into a winning business model. The launch of AdWords and AdSense was pure genius in a cost-per-click market that was frozen and unconvincing, but for my part, I have serious doubts about the immediate impact of Google on the monopoly of Microsoft.
I use Adwords, Analytics and AdSense on a daily basis. All of my emails are combined into a Gmail account, which I read through the Google Desktop toolbar. Google is my favorite search engine, and overall I’m happy with my Google plan.
But there are reproaches, and they are growing.
The Google interface is simple. Of course I hear you cry – why would you want to clutter up such good tech with cheap veneer? Well, for us tech-minded people maybe, but I know a lot of non-technical people (and, let’s face it, there are billions of them) who find this very simple approach extremely counter-intuitive. . Take Gmail for example. Besides a powerful search function, Gmail scores fairly low on usability issues. Most of the non-tech-savvy people I’m in contact with (I’m talking lawyers, teachers, middle managers – pretty smart people) ditched Gmail for the familiarity and usability of Hotmail. In Hotmail, Microsoft provides a neat, integrated product that takes a newbie by the hand and guides them through the email garden. It might not have 2 gigabytes of storage and a great search feature attached, but a few folders and a delete button seem to work pretty well for most people. Like I said, I use Gmail on a daily basis, but I can appreciate what these people are telling me. Of course we are talking about a beta product so let’s not dwell on this one …
Google accounts don’t talk to each other. Often times, I’ll need to sign in to my AdWords, AdSense, and Analytics account within minutes of each other – and I’ll need to sign in separately for each. It drives me crazy! In Passport, Microsoft streamlined the sign-in process from the desktop, opening up a whole suite of web services in an extremely usable way. Sometimes I feel like Google is trying to stop me from entering! I would like to see a centralized connection from which all Google accounts are accessible.
My point here is that people demand a friendly and sophisticated experience. Google currently prevents non-technical people from accessing the products offered. A typical example can be seen in their help files. A few clicks in the Google Analytic help files will bring up many 404 error pages. With such a powerful search tool, a 404 should not be heard. Why, instead of a 404 page, does the King of Search not provide me with a list of possible places or sites that might be able to help me? To organize the world’s information – unless it’s unavailable then you’ll have to settle for a 404 error screen, sorry!
Google has grown very rapidly and in some ways I think the company has been surprised by its own success. The exponential growth of AdWords has generated so much revenue that Google is just throwing money in different directions, creating Yahoo 2.0. Many of Google’s services are admirable. Google Search and Google Books have and will change the way humans store and retrieve information. But Google is not a rival of Microsoft. In fact, in a few years, it may be Google that is threatened. Google has a killer model in the Search-Adwords-Adsense triangle. They don’t need other services to survive financially, so maybe we should just be thankful that they provide some of these services for free. But for my part, I hope Google will take the time to consolidate and improve the usability of its products before it begins to pursue even higher aspirations. Google is powerful, but it fails to engage those who don’t embrace technology as easily as others. Of course, you can organize the world’s information, but let everyone access it when you have it.
I don’t want the honeymoon with Google to end, but I feel like it’s about to end. Let’s just hope they do the job necessary to make the marriage work!
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