Seeing as we've been discussing the evolution of computer science in the last two classes, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about about what is, in my opinion, the forerunner in technological Darwinism. As I am writing this, Google Inc. stock is being traded at nearly $600 per share, completely owning the technology sector. To put a little perspective on how staggering this number really is, lets compare with Microsoft. The company that was once so strongly monopolizing the market that the feds had to intervene is going for a solid $30 per share, or about 1/20th of Google. The reason I mention this is to bring attention to the fact that the brilliant folks at Google have managed to completely revolutionize the way business is done with regards to computers.
Now a builder of computers gets to take money from the consumer one time. Meanwhile the consumer is using that computer for years to come, and Google recognized this. Instead of getting into race to build better, faster, cheaper computers, Google decided to take its own path when they essentially went right over companies like Apple or HP and said we're not going to build computers, we're going to capitalize off how people use the product that you built. They've been able to do this a variety of ways but the most prominent being a revolutionary approach to internet advertising. By actively monitoring the consumers internet habits and with the upkeep of an endless global database of cookies and keystrokes, Google is able to deliver personally tailored ads to the market demographic most likely to respond to them. Coupling this with their recognition as the most powerful search engine on the planet, buying ad time from Google instantly becomes a very alluring idea for any business owner. Now this is obviously an oversimplified synopsis of how they make their money but the way that this company has been able to compile information about its target market is truly phenomenal.
In fact, Google has amassed so much information on each and everyone of us that they probably know more about us than our mothers do. Google knows where we get our news, it knows our credit card numbers, it even knows what kind of porn we watch and who were having an affair with through Facebook messaging. Google knows all and could probably take on God in a trivia contest. And if they say knowledge is power, well then Google may be the most powerful entity on the planet. I case you haven't figured it out yet, I am pretty convinced that Google's world takeover is inevitably in our near future. I will use this blog over the next few weeks to keep you updated on what Google is doing from a business perspective as well as throw in a few paranoid thoughts of my own.
Very interesting comparing Google's stock shares with Microsoft's. I wonder if anti-trust law is applicable to Google. Is Google considered a monopoly or could it be (if it isn't) an exception since it's business mostly takes place virtually?
ReplyDeleteGoogle wouldn't be considered a monopoly because there are other search engine sites such as Yahoo, Ask Jeeves or even Bing, right? We were talking about the price of Google's stock in my Accounting 296 class. I found it very interesting that when the stock was initially publicly offered it started around $80. Usually in the beginning stock is a little shaky but Google proved to be an exception. It all makes sense though, we are always going to need to search things on the internet. Well, that is until someone comes up with something new...
ReplyDeleteGoogle is definately a unique and frontrunning company. I will definately agree that google has all of the information necessary to do such an act as a world takover, if not just destroy the world economy and create a global anarchy. However, I find that very unlikely. I also agree with Kathleen, while they were the first and currently are the largest search engine, they are far from the only, as there are hundreds of sites devoted to similar tasks.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree. The abundance of search engines probably helps protect Google from anti-monopoly laws. I also think that because what they offer as a business is so diverse it makes it hard to pin them down as a "monopoly".
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I wonder how this works out with invasion of privacy? I mean if a company knows everything down to what size sneakers you wear, what's stopping them from predicting the future? It's pretty far fetched like a science fiction flick like minority report, where entities read the minds of criminals before they commit a crime, but the parody of the movie is that the innocent can be convicted. Is this our future? I know it's a long shot, but you never know. I also never knew how Google actually made money. I always just thought they were one of the free search engines. I heard they are designing a new operating system. I think you might be right about their world takeover.
ReplyDeleteWow, I definitely wish I owned some shares in Google! I do have to say that I too think a lot about how much companies such as Google knows about all of us. It's terrifying to think that a large corporation knows everything about me. But, I must say that I admire how clever they are; they have really figured out how to cater to their users and themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think Google has barely shown its true potential to society. I believe they have much more up their sleeve and will continue to shock up in the future with their advancements. Google's business plan is revolutionary, it only makes sense that a company with such a distinct corporate culture would be the company innovative enough to bring us technological innovation as they do.
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