Google introduced Search Plus Your World last week -- and before the virtual ink was dry on the blog post announcing its new feature, the antitrust forces were gathering in the streets, pitchforks at the ready.
If there’s a crime in this newest twist to Google’s search results page composition, it’s the spectacularly bad branding for the new offering. (“Google Search plus Your World”? Seriously? Would it cost so much to hire a good product marketing person?)
What’s got people’s hackles up is that Google, with 65% of the search market in the U.S., has begun including information from its Google+ social network, Picasa and Google Profile pages. Twitter feels this will come at the expense of its own network’s information in terms of page real estate, and those concerned about privacy feel it’s one step closer to the loss of all control over one’s own personal data. And, the antitrust folks feel Google is using its size and market share to gain an unfair advantage in its competition with Facebook.
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Here’s the thing: Google has built in the same sorts of search controls that Facebook, LinkedIn and others use in their search functions. That is, personalized search results are restricted to what you and your friends choose to share with one another. If you choose to make a profile or other information available to anyone, then Google may feature that as part of a search results page anywhere its algorithm decides is appropriate. And, like LinkedIn, if there’s relevant information available through a friend of a friend, they show the pathway to get to it if you choose to pursue it.
I understand why people are concerned about Google and the possibility of anti-competitive behavior. The company has made mistakes in the past and deserves the scrutiny. Still, its latest move is perfectly consistent with how its competitors, large and small, produce information in search results.
Which brings me to Google’s oft-cited market share, which is big and a huge advantage. But the people of the world are changing habits quickly. Search is happening in social networks like Facebook (the world’s largest), inside Twitter and Yelp, within countless mobile apps, and through personal assistants like Apple’s Siri. Baidu, Yandex and, yes, even Bing are all growing, and each is serving at least one vertical market very well.
As they say on “Project Runway”: “One day you’re in; the next, you’re out.” Ten years ago, Google was just a pup in Silicon Valley and Yahoo was the big dog on the block. It’s entirely possible that in 10 more years, Google will be the one Carl Icahn is trying to break up (God forbid). Stranger things have happened.
Google must be allowed to innovate and compete. Like all companies in Silicon Valley, it’s just one nerd-in-a-Stanford-study-carrel away from being yesterday’s news. It shouldn’t be allowed to act in anticompetitive ways, nor should it take actions that violate the users’ trust. But that’s not what Google has done with Search plus Your World.
It should be no surprise that Google is trying to build a social network – nor that it’s building a cache of profiles on people and businesses that can be used for both personalized and open access search results. That these moves are threatening to Twitter, Yelp or Facebook will likely result in each of those companies becoming better as they gear up to compete. That’s good for all of us.
In this case, leave Google alone. And may the best search experience win!
Derek gets it, the other whiney losers need to get on the ball or go apply for a job at Prodigy or Ask Jeeves...
Derek's point about what happens in the tech field over the span of ten years is spot on. Companies rarely stay on top for more than a decade in our business, especially if the rest on their laurels. It's why Andy Grove at Intel is known for popularizing the line "Only the paranoid survive."
Though I'd be loathe to call for any kind of government action, there does seem to be an inherent conflict on interest here. Google is both a search engine and a content owner.
As an analogy, if General Motors owned Consumer Reports magazine, whose cars do you think would consistently get high quality ratings?
When people search within Twitter or Facebook, they understand they are going to see results from within that network - not from the wider web. The expectation with Google (or Bing, or Ask, etc.) is different.
Just sayin.'
I agree with Tom Pick [KC Associates] and respectfully disagree with Derek Gordon.
The huge difference between the evolution of Google and Facebook/Twitter is that Google is first and foremost a Search Engine for the entire web, while Facebook/Twitter are first and foremost Social Networks. Google has added a Social Network to their list of products AFTER it grabbed 65% of the searching market.
When people come to Google to do a search, they're under the impression that they're searching the entire web. When people come to Facebook/Twitter, they know their searching within these social networks [with some results from Bing].
Furthermore, if Google is calling its new change "Google Search plus Your World" and it excludes results from "your world", it is misleading the public.
Competition is great and should be protected. However, if you take into consideration Google's 65% of the searching market, you'll see how Google's tactic is not fair competition.
Steve Kavetsky
Co-Founder
AgooBiz.com // The Social Commerce Network
"WE work greater than me"
Hey Derek
You are dead on. Google has the right to shoot itself in the foot if it chooses to do so. Right now, what I like about Google is that when I type in a search term, I am pretty sure within the top 5 organic rankings I am going to find what I need. I think these new changes are going to muddy that rather than enhance it.
Not to mention it is going to force all SEO experts to better understand social media and it's role in SEM. It's getting more interesting by the day.
Derek