Google Is On The GO-gle

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Oct 28, 2004 09:00 AM

Fresh off its IPO and a spurt of wild growth, the king of search is tackling new and different areas to solidify its brand.

By Don St. John, TechWeb

Maybe they should rename themselves Googleplex. With its successful and long-awaited IPO behind it, Google is employing the capital it's raised to begin forays into a host of new markets. And its performance of the past few years has given it a signal distinction for 2004—the #1 ranking on the Deloitte & Touche list of fastest growing tech companies, with a ridiculous revenue growth rate of 437,115%. A googleplex is 10 to the power of google—itself 10 to the power of 100, a mighty huge number—and that's seemingly how much Google has grown.

So, what to expect from the newest behemoth of the tech industry? The most interesting new initiative is a beta test of a mobile Short Message Service (SMS) that would confirm the frequent rumors that Google would like a piece of the IM market. Besides its implications for the enterprise, where messaging continues to be a hot item, consumers would also benefit from the innovative product-finder capabilities being built into the service—finding a restaurant based on the ZIP code, for example. Google's extension of its book-finding service is another consumer-based app that puts it squarely on Amazon's lucrative turf, even as Amazon seeks to challenge Google in search with its A9 offering.

However, the highest-profile release from Google is the recent rollout of its desktop-search application, which takes its methods of searching the Web and applies them to the clutter of your own PC. It already has security implications (the company recommends not using it on shared computers) and, as a free release, it isn't a revenue builder. But what it does build—much like its signature Web-search tool, its news aggregator, and its Google Toolbar for Web browsers—is the company's valuable brand. For much of the tech and consumer community, Google equals search, and beating its rivals to the desktop punch can only help it solidify its position as the name in search technology.

That branding will remain important to Google. Search continues to be a primary function for most computer users. A recent survey showed almost 25 percent of Americans have gone online to search for a person, be it friend, customer, or employee. And it's search, and the paid ads that accompany it, that continues to drive Google's revenue base. Still, with some believing that search is maturing and slowing down as a business model, it's incumbent in the face of intense competition for Google to not sit still. All indications are that it's already figured that Google in on the go.

Google Tops List Of Fastest-Growing Tech Companies - InformationWeek
The annual ranking, released last week and based on revenue growth over five years, pegged Google's revenue growth rate at 437,115%, with revenue of $962 million in 2003 compared with $220,000 in 1999.

Who's Googling Whom? - TechWeb
Nearly one in four American adults have searched online for information about a co-worker, employee, or customer, a survey released Thursday revealed.

Google Debuts Desktop Search - TechWeb
The company unveiled its long-anticipated desktop application for searching through files, e-mail messages, and Web histories on the local PC, beating competitors like Microsoft and Yahoo to the punch.

Assessing The Security Threat Of Google's Desktop Search - InformationWeek
There is some confusion about threats posed by the new search tool. Google says common sense is enough of a patch.

Google Launches Mobile Messaging Service - Messaging Pipeline
New beta test backs up the rumors that the company is getting into the instant messaging business.