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> Google and Microsoft have had the same business model forever . Microsoft has Xbox, Office, Azure, etc. Google has Android, Google Workplace, GCP, etc. Whe

> Google and Microsoft have had the same business model forever . Microsoft has Xbox, Office, Azure, etc. Google has Android, Google Workplace, GCP, etc. When you diversify your income streams you add more. It doesn't mean you get rid of your breadwinner. Facebook's main model seems to becoming illegal and/or not viable via a tech perspective.

kergonath 5y ago
> Google has Android, Google Workplace, GCP, etc. Alphabet is more than 80% advertising: https://searchengineland.com/google-q4-2021-earnings-379735 https://searchengineland.com/google-q4-2021-earnings-379735 . They are good at skewing how they are perceived but they are very close to being a one-business company. Not defending Facebook, but Google is not much better.
- endisneigh 5y ago
  Their "ads" are driven from more sectors than Facebook. Whatsapp has no ads, so it's basically FB and Insta
  - kritiko 5y ago
    FB has Audience Network which extends their targeting off platform. But yes, Google’s acquisition of Doubleclick and investment in video through YouTube has allowed them to capture the publisher and buyer side of much of the open web (and use the data to cut out competition - cf. Project Bernanke)
    - colinmhayes 5y ago
      Audience network just took a big hit from apples privacy policy changes. Google controls the entire ecosystem for many users and most of the ecosystem for pretty much all of them, so they can never get blindsided like Facebook did.
      - ma2rten 5y ago
        I saw this claim elsewhere in this thread as well, but I didn't really get it. Google is going be affected equally by iOS changes. Google does control the Android/Chrome ecosystem, but I don't see how Google could make any changes there that hurt Facebook because of antitrust concerns.
        colinmhayes 5y ago
        Facebook says the iOS changes are going to cost them $10 billion this year. Google blew past earnings and issued strong guidance last quarter.
- blihp 5y ago
  That's actually a spectacular improvement (82% ad revenue)... it was more like 98% not that many years ago. So while it's taking them years, they are slowly diversifying.
  - kergonath 5y ago
    Yeah the figure I had in mind before looking for sources was 95%, which might have been a couple of years ago. There still is a chasm between how they make money and how people think they do. Probably because ads and tracking are more or less background noise when you browse the Internet, and things like Android are more sexy and concrete. But Android clearly is just a way to drive ads, not a separate business.
mastazi 5y ago
Google is not really that diversified, most of the revenue comes from ads. Microsoft is a better example of a diversified business, and IMHO Amazon would be another good example. Edit: sure, it's true that they put ads on everything, from YouTube videos to Gmail mailboxes, but that's not comparable to the level of diversification that MSFT or AMZN have IMHO.
- wombat-man 5y ago
  They also run the biggest ad network. If you want to put ads on your site or app, they make it easy.
  - mastazi 5y ago
    Yes, that's true, when we refer to ads we have to consider both internal properties and external.

kergonath 5y ago

> Google has Android, Google Workplace, GCP, etc. Alphabet is more than 80% advertising: https://searchengineland.com/google-q4-2021-earnings-379735 https://searchengineland.com/google-q4-2021-earnings-379735 . They are good at skewing how they are perceived but they are very close to being a one-business company. Not defending Facebook, but Google is not much better.

endisneigh 5y ago
Their "ads" are driven from more sectors than Facebook. Whatsapp has no ads, so it's basically FB and Insta
- kritiko 5y ago
  FB has Audience Network which extends their targeting off platform. But yes, Google’s acquisition of Doubleclick and investment in video through YouTube has allowed them to capture the publisher and buyer side of much of the open web (and use the data to cut out competition - cf. Project Bernanke)
  - colinmhayes 5y ago
    Audience network just took a big hit from apples privacy policy changes. Google controls the entire ecosystem for many users and most of the ecosystem for pretty much all of them, so they can never get blindsided like Facebook did.
    - ma2rten 5y ago
      I saw this claim elsewhere in this thread as well, but I didn't really get it. Google is going be affected equally by iOS changes. Google does control the Android/Chrome ecosystem, but I don't see how Google could make any changes there that hurt Facebook because of antitrust concerns.
      - colinmhayes 5y ago
        Facebook says the iOS changes are going to cost them $10 billion this year. Google blew past earnings and issued strong guidance last quarter.
blihp 5y ago
That's actually a spectacular improvement (82% ad revenue)... it was more like 98% not that many years ago. So while it's taking them years, they are slowly diversifying.
- kergonath 5y ago
  Yeah the figure I had in mind before looking for sources was 95%, which might have been a couple of years ago. There still is a chasm between how they make money and how people think they do. Probably because ads and tracking are more or less background noise when you browse the Internet, and things like Android are more sexy and concrete. But Android clearly is just a way to drive ads, not a separate business.

mastazi 5y ago

Google is not really that diversified, most of the revenue comes from ads. Microsoft is a better example of a diversified business, and IMHO Amazon would be another good example. Edit: sure, it's true that they put ads on everything, from YouTube videos to Gmail mailboxes, but that's not comparable to the level of diversification that MSFT or AMZN have IMHO.

wombat-man 5y ago
They also run the biggest ad network. If you want to put ads on your site or app, they make it easy.
- mastazi 5y ago
  Yes, that's true, when we refer to ads we have to consider both internal properties and external.