5 ms·

Not nonsense. Google isn't a search company. It's an advertising company.

dgacmu 8y ago
Ask it this way: if Google could find a revenue model with users paying for search with no ads, would they turn off ads? Yes, probably. If Google could turn off search and still make as much money just showing ads? No. (The vast majority of Google's ad revenue comes.from search advertising.) Google is a search company that depends critically on ads to exist. It also has an advertising company component to it, but the core value is search. Otherwise, you'd have to conclude that duckduckgo is also an advertising company. Neither of those statements is correct. This sound bite quip about Google tries to reduce a large and complex business to one word, which doesn't serve accuracy or truth.
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- crispyporkbites 8y ago
  > If Google could turn off search and still make as much money just showing ads? No. You're not serious right? Google doesn't run a search engine for the fun of it, they're a for-profit company, if they can pull out an extra margin without search they would do that immediately. The core value is absolutely not search, search is an acquisition channel to bring in customers to click on ads. No one is paying them for searches. You're right that DDG is an advertising company as well, who also have search as their primary (only?) acquistion channel. However their customer base is specifically looking for alternatives to google and one of the core value propositions of that is to have privacy and minimal user tracking.
  - dgacmu 8y ago
    You're confusing source of revenue with source of value. Both Google and DDG offer value by providing desirable search results (and other services). As I said: for both companies, the revenue source is fungible. The core value is not. DDG would still be DDG with a different revenue model. It would not be DDG without search.
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tokyodude 8y ago
I don't think that's really fair. By that argument, every magazine, radio, and TV show are ad companies. That includes NPR which runs ads for sponsors and ads for pledges. NYTimes, The Guardian, etc... Do all those companies make money from ads? Sure. Does that make them ad companies? No, they are first and foremost companies that provide a service for the user. If that service is good enough (gets enough viewers) then the ads are seen/heard. If not they go out of business. Because of this they have an incentive to provide the best of that service. Best search, best TV shows (drama/news/comedy/etc...), best music, best talk shows, best articles, etc. Where "best" = gets the most viewers. If Google's search starts sucking people will go elsewhere so they are a search company. Chiat Day and Dentsu are ad companies. They sell ads.
- SharkBl4de 8y ago
  The argument is completely fair and correct. Every media company supported by ads is an ad company. They market the readers, listeners, or watchers to advertisers. The only thing the content needs to do is attract enough people to convince someone it's worth the money to put a message in front of the gathered audience. The content doesn't have to be the "best" it just has to be the attractive enough to draw an audience. A train wreck we'll draw an audience without being good at all.
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SquareWheel 8y ago
Google is both an ad company and a search company. They're also an AI company, a hardware company (phones), and a media company (Youtube).

Ask it this way: if Google could find a revenue model with users paying for search with no ads, would they turn off ads? Yes, probably. If Google could turn off search and still make as much money just showing ads? No. (The vast majority of Google's ad revenue comes.from search advertising.) Google is a search company that depends critically on ads to exist. It also has an advertising company component to it, but the core value is search. Otherwise, you'd have to conclude that duckduckgo is also an advertising company. Neither of those statements is correct. This sound bite quip about Google tries to reduce a large and complex business to one word, which doesn't serve accuracy or truth.

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crispyporkbites 8y ago
> If Google could turn off search and still make as much money just showing ads? No. You're not serious right? Google doesn't run a search engine for the fun of it, they're a for-profit company, if they can pull out an extra margin without search they would do that immediately. The core value is absolutely not search, search is an acquisition channel to bring in customers to click on ads. No one is paying them for searches. You're right that DDG is an advertising company as well, who also have search as their primary (only?) acquistion channel. However their customer base is specifically looking for alternatives to google and one of the core value propositions of that is to have privacy and minimal user tracking.
- dgacmu 8y ago
  You're confusing source of revenue with source of value. Both Google and DDG offer value by providing desirable search results (and other services). As I said: for both companies, the revenue source is fungible. The core value is not. DDG would still be DDG with a different revenue model. It would not be DDG without search.
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tokyodude 8y ago

I don't think that's really fair. By that argument, every magazine, radio, and TV show are ad companies. That includes NPR which runs ads for sponsors and ads for pledges. NYTimes, The Guardian, etc... Do all those companies make money from ads? Sure. Does that make them ad companies? No, they are first and foremost companies that provide a service for the user. If that service is good enough (gets enough viewers) then the ads are seen/heard. If not they go out of business. Because of this they have an incentive to provide the best of that service. Best search, best TV shows (drama/news/comedy/etc...), best music, best talk shows, best articles, etc. Where "best" = gets the most viewers. If Google's search starts sucking people will go elsewhere so they are a search company. Chiat Day and Dentsu are ad companies. They sell ads.

SharkBl4de 8y ago
The argument is completely fair and correct. Every media company supported by ads is an ad company. They market the readers, listeners, or watchers to advertisers. The only thing the content needs to do is attract enough people to convince someone it's worth the money to put a message in front of the gathered audience. The content doesn't have to be the "best" it just has to be the attractive enough to draw an audience. A train wreck we'll draw an audience without being good at all.
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SquareWheel 8y ago

Google is both an ad company and a search company. They're also an AI company, a hardware company (phones), and a media company (Youtube).