DISCLAIMER: I'm a contractor who works at Google. My musings are my own and in no way represent the thoughts of any other entity. I've dwelt on this quite a bi

DISCLAIMER: I'm a contractor who works at Google. My musings are my own and in no way represent the thoughts of any other entity. I've dwelt on this quite a bit and have come to the conclusion that while Google is amazing at a lot of things it is not necessarily great for leveraging network effects - a domain handled much better by Facebook. Google's core product is search, an awesome web utility. The next product often named is gmail - again, a utility. Then you have their Drive-oriented applications - Docs, Sheets, etc. which are all amazing... as standalone products that don't need other people to enhance its value. The problem with G+, Hangouts (and other chat apps), and a variety of other products they have tried to develop is that they're trying to break into the social space - but the company isn't about social at it's core. While I appreciate that the company is trying to bring competition to the social space I think it should focus harder on areas where it has traditionally excelled - utilities that are convenient for individuals and made better by collaboration. If it wants to get into the social space it should break out a new company under Alphabet that can focus on that objective - but there's no reason to tie it directly to Google. EDIT: I think Fiber can and will still play out strong, mind you.