3 ms·

How long until they're forced by investors to drop the act and just be an ad company? Seriously, has a single Google project outside the Gsuite had any success

How long until they're forced by investors to drop the act and just be an ad company? Seriously, has a single Google project outside the Gsuite had any success ever?

SQueeeeeL 4y ago
4 years ago: https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393 https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-do... Everything since then has been the slow crumbling of their "Kool-Aid"/branding about their company. Finally being a public company chasing quarterly earnings will peel the last remnants of idealism off their carefully constructed image.
- lambdaba 4y ago
  I'm soooooo nostalgic of pre-2011/2012 or so Google. One of the most illustrative things for me is Google Talks back in that day, some of the people invited and subjects would be unthinkable for today's Google. I wished I could have been a Googler in that period, kind of my dream job if I had any.
  - lloydatkinson 4y ago
    What kind of subjects?
    - lambdaba 4y ago
      It's more of a general impression, but for instance the other day YouTube recommended me "Jesse Ventura | 63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read | Talks at Google", it just doesn't seem like the kind of thing Google would host or publish now.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
foepys 4y ago
Android funneled quite a lot of users into Google apps to sell more ads or ad placements.
- rhaway84773 4y ago
  I think the OP’s point is that Google has basically only generated 2 profitable revenue streams over their lifetime. 1. Google ads. The vast majority of their products are funnels into ads, but ads are the business. Android, for example, is simply a channel for the ad business. Alternatively, Google could have chosen to sell Android to manufacturers the way MS does Windows. That way it could have become an independently profitable business, but they deliberately chose to not develop it as a business but make it a channel for the ad business. 2. GSuite.
gretch 4y ago
I mean… google maps? Chrome? YouTube (purchased in 2005 and not the same product/scale at all anymore)
- ramesh31 4y ago
  >I mean… google maps? Chrome? YouTube (purchased in 2005 and not the same product/scale at all anymore) None of which have ever (or will ever) generate any meaningful revenue for Google beyond their ability to funnel people into ads. They are an ad company, and nothing more.
- nowherebeen 4y ago
  All three products you mention produce a ton of personal data/ monetary value for Google's ad machine.
  - gretch 4y ago
    Parent comment was about 'successful project' It's also extremely reductive to just boil everything down into 'ads'. Like for example, if Bing somehow over took Google's search, YT would still be making money. That's an important part of the company.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - nowherebeen 4y ago
      > YT would still be making money You are aware how YT makes money, right?
      - gretch 4y ago
        Yes they make money through ads (but also through Premium btw) The point is though, that if Search Ads stop making money, why would YT ads also stop making money? You're speaking as if society is going to stop having Ads altogether. The same argument applied to e.g. Apple would be like "Apple makes all it's money through HARDWARE, since iPhone and Mac and wearables are all HARDWARE, they only have 1 revenue stream". Which is unsophisticated and kinda dumb

How long until they're forced by investors to drop the act and just be an ad company? Seriously, has a single Google project outside the Gsuite had any success ever?

SQueeeeeL 4y ago

4 years ago: https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393 https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-do... Everything since then has been the slow crumbling of their "Kool-Aid"/branding about their company. Finally being a public company chasing quarterly earnings will peel the last remnants of idealism off their carefully constructed image.

lambdaba 4y ago
I'm soooooo nostalgic of pre-2011/2012 or so Google. One of the most illustrative things for me is Google Talks back in that day, some of the people invited and subjects would be unthinkable for today's Google. I wished I could have been a Googler in that period, kind of my dream job if I had any.
- lloydatkinson 4y ago
  What kind of subjects?
  - lambdaba 4y ago
    It's more of a general impression, but for instance the other day YouTube recommended me "Jesse Ventura | 63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read | Talks at Google", it just doesn't seem like the kind of thing Google would host or publish now.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

foepys 4y ago

Android funneled quite a lot of users into Google apps to sell more ads or ad placements.

rhaway84773 4y ago
I think the OP’s point is that Google has basically only generated 2 profitable revenue streams over their lifetime. 1. Google ads. The vast majority of their products are funnels into ads, but ads are the business. Android, for example, is simply a channel for the ad business. Alternatively, Google could have chosen to sell Android to manufacturers the way MS does Windows. That way it could have become an independently profitable business, but they deliberately chose to not develop it as a business but make it a channel for the ad business. 2. GSuite.

gretch 4y ago

I mean… google maps? Chrome? YouTube (purchased in 2005 and not the same product/scale at all anymore)

ramesh31 4y ago
>I mean… google maps? Chrome? YouTube (purchased in 2005 and not the same product/scale at all anymore) None of which have ever (or will ever) generate any meaningful revenue for Google beyond their ability to funnel people into ads. They are an ad company, and nothing more.
nowherebeen 4y ago
All three products you mention produce a ton of personal data/ monetary value for Google's ad machine.
- gretch 4y ago
  Parent comment was about 'successful project' It's also extremely reductive to just boil everything down into 'ads'. Like for example, if Bing somehow over took Google's search, YT would still be making money. That's an important part of the company.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - nowherebeen 4y ago
    > YT would still be making money You are aware how YT makes money, right?
    - gretch 4y ago
      Yes they make money through ads (but also through Premium btw) The point is though, that if Search Ads stop making money, why would YT ads also stop making money? You're speaking as if society is going to stop having Ads altogether. The same argument applied to e.g. Apple would be like "Apple makes all it's money through HARDWARE, since iPhone and Mac and wearables are all HARDWARE, they only have 1 revenue stream". Which is unsophisticated and kinda dumb