Google’s Latest Moves: Analyzing The Analysis

There’s a great deal of talk surrounding recent news coming out of Mountain View as of late. Understandably so. In the last week or so, we’ve seen revealed a number of grand projects by Google: one having to do with the development of an open Web platform, dubbed OpenSocial; another having to do with a software-specific mobile project. (Yesterday, Google publicly divulged the outline of that mobile project, now known as the Open Handset Alliance.)

And there’s also been ample chatter brewing over Google’s strategy concerning its chief competitors on the Web – Microsoft, Facebook, etc. The speculative mill is churning at quite a rapid rate today, for sure, and there seems equal gossip about suspected offensive measures as and defensive ones being put into action.

So it’s only right that we make our own attempt at weeding right from wrong, and ponder for ourselves where it is exactly Google’s headed, and what obstructions, if any, it’s bound to encounter, either in the short term or the long.

First, let’s chew on the mobile stories a bit.

It’s quite clear what Google is doing in the handheld department – assembling an OS, developing applications, and recruiting partners of as many stripes as possible to grant the company the largest spread as possible come mid-2008, when it is expected to officially debut its complete mobile package – but as for why it is doing what it is doing, some analysts don’t see eye to eye.

A number of observers think Google’s big mobile-centric move has most to do with its drive to do the same with its still young mobile advertising network as it did with its desktop-based inspiration. Others think it’s really just an example of Google’s unabashed push for world domination.

The real reason lies with the second of the two scenarios. (Only, perhaps not as evil as such move may appear to be by the sound of it.)

Yes, if looked at logically, the roadmap thus far documented by Google as to its plans for the future shows plainly its desire to be everywhere in your life.

It’s so far been very successful in managing to equate its brand with the fundamental practice of search. And the collection of applications it’s cultivating are indeed being developed to be serious competition to today’s standard set of office solutions.

Now it’s looking to making very, very significant inroads into the mobile sphere, where its name has yet to be as dominant and ubiquitous as it is on our desks and in our laps. With billions of people around the world slated to join the mobile fold, Google is in fact entirely sensible to be putting a great deal of weight now into the wireless ring. If it wishes to become a sort of Microsoft for Web users – which I’ve really every reason to believe it does wish to attain such ubiquity and power – it must do nothing short of take the mobile market by storm.

To sum up, Google wants to be everywhere you are. In the words of Engadget’s Ryan Block, it’s looking for “stickiness.” A choice term, I think.

Alrighty. On to that “Google fears Facebook” nonsense.

I’m sure you’ve all read up on the speculation and opinion about Google v. Facebook and all of the things that have grown out of that conflict. You know, how “threatened” the GOOG now appears to be now that Facebook is seen as the new darling of the tech world and whatnot.

Well, I think I’ll go ahead and burst that bubble right now. There’s absolutely no reason to think Google is threatened by Facebook.

Why not? Because…uh, it’s not. Facebook, like MySpace and other such like-minded creations, is one thing. One. It’s a social network. Sure it’s got lots of funky and cool new facets to attract many millions of people to its membership, but fundamentally, it’s still just a social network at heart.

Google, on the other hand, is, you know…not a social network. More generally speaking, it’s not any one thing in particular, really. It’s the king of Web search. It’s the king of online advertising. It’s the king of Web video. And it’s now getting a whole lot of adulation from the wide world of techies now that it has brought to light that nifty OpenSocial system that a whole lotta social-minded Web businesses have jumped on board with. (I still firmly believe Facebook will join in when it’s finished brooding over the revelation.)

And, yes, Google even has it’s own social network, dubbed Orkut. It’s not the biggest and baddest by any means. But for something that’s popular only in select international locales (mainly Brazil) it’s not doing poorly at all.

So that rubbish about Google feeling the heat of Facebook and losing all of its supersmart engineers to the Zuckerberg club is really just that. Rubbish.

To end things, I’ll say this. While I imagine that Google’s $700+ price is a little inflated, even considering all of the company’s latest developments, I think that valuation is a heck of a lot more accurate than Facebook’s supposed $15bn. If I had to bet that one of those two companies would show the other who’s more awesome, I probably go with the former. It seems to offer more bang for the buck. It doesn’t take much to see things that way, either. Just a bit of perspective, that’s all.

Let us know what you think about all this stuff. Rant and rave in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to profy RSS feed!