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Google: "It's not about Search anymore"...
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Loose Google Lips at SES
So I was sitting in a session at SES, when the Google rep got up to speak. Ho hum, thinks I, another journey right down the company line. Not so it seems. I wrote it down quickly, to try and get the quote perfect, and here it is :
It's not about search any more
Now, stop me where I go wrong, but hasn't Eric Scmidt made statements to the contrary?
So, if it's not about search any more for Google, and they aren't a portal.... just what the hell are they?
When they've figured it out, could they please let us know?
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...just what the hell are they?
From where I sit they look a lot like a corporate money making machine.
Data mining
and all the wonderful possibilities that come with having the largest collection of data on earth.
Well talltroll, what did the
Well talltroll, what did the rep say next to qualify the statement? Taking one phrase out of context isn't really helpful. I assume he didn't just say that and then sit down, did he?
Who said he qualified the statement?
What you see is pretty much what you get. If you want context, he was showing a slide demonstrating all the services, live and beta, that Google provide these days. It was a VERY busy slide. Do I have to eloborate any further?
Technically the session was about the European Search Landscape, but the SE's took the opportunity to deliver a sales pitch, pretty much as you'd expect.
monetization
it's not about search anymore, it's about monetization of traffic.
It's the American way. Build a great brand through market-serving innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurism, and then destroy it through crass over commercialization.
Maybe G is to become true infotainment. Need driving directions? G maps provide smooth scroll and pop-up sattelite images of major intersections along the way. Perhaps a new slogan is in order... "Google.. for the answer, and more"
Of course its not just about
Of course its not just about search anymore. Its about a publicly traded company using a profitable business model. Google still wants to organize all the data, they just want to make money by doing this.
They will search websites, organize emails, collect and display maps and get their hands on any other data. It doesn't matter if they call themselves a portal or not. What does matter is that revenue and profit grows or at least that is what a few million stockholders think.
the admissions interesting though
obviously it's not all been about search for some time (don't blame them - if I owned it it would all be about how much money I could make too) but the fact that someone fom Goog actually said that to an audience which probably included a lot of little webmasters speaks volumes I think.
Gaffe
Sounds like a Gaffe... when somebody accidentally says something true.
It's all about search
And anybody who says it's not doesn't understand this space. Perhaps it's not JUST about search anymore, but if Google takes their eyes off of their core business, they'll be really, really sorry.
However, from taking a look at the Google Factory Tour, it seems like they know where they have to go. And by the way, their translation software is truly impressive. Has anybody seen that presentation? Whoa.
Then again, their relevancy isn't. Has anybody seen Shmoogle? It's a site that mixed up Google results to completely randomize the results. It pulls results from page 28 or 190 and puts them on the first page. I guess it begs the question, is PageRank becoming irrelevant because of the SEO industry?
In any event, good post TallTroll and thanks for the inside intel.
Google is bid-controlled
Google is bid-controlled paid-for advertising space, and will soon be nothing more.