5 ms·

Maybe (ok, not maybe) I'm getting too philosophical about such decisions these days, but Google is, at it's heart, an ad company that happens to be really good

Maybe (ok, not maybe) I'm getting too philosophical about such decisions these days, but Google is, at it's heart, an ad company that happens to be really good at tech. Nokia is a tech company that is really good at tech. My choice is Nokia - they're just a closer match to the view I have of myself.

desas 14y ago
I'd argue that google is an ai company at heart, that just happens to make a fortune selling ads.
jonknee 14y ago
I think Google is a tech company that happens to be really good at ads (which is uses to fund all of its tech). Google didn't set out to sell advertising, it was just a way that they could continue solving big problems. For example, I don't think Google is spending big dollars on automated cars to advance its advertising business.
- awolf 14y ago
  Google makes 99% of its money from ads, and it has pretty much always been that way. They're definitely an ad company.
  - prof_hobart 14y ago
    Their business model is undoubtedly ads. But I think that's slightly different from saying they are an ad company. As far as I can tell, the primary reason that Google exists is for clever technical people to do new geeky stuff. They need a way to fund that geeky stuff and that's where ads come in, but the ads and the revenue aren't where their real passion seems to be. If they could simply sit back and watch the $$ rolling in through ads without ever doing another bit of innovation, I doubt they would do it. This is quite different from the vast majority of companies. BP, for example, don't exist because their peope are passionate about drilling oil - it's because drilling oil is a very good way of making money. Even companies like MicroSoft exist (and pretty much always existed) primarily as a money-making business. Sure they attract lots of nerds, but the money driven the company's choices of where to deploy those nerds.
amaranth 14y ago
Google is a data company. Their best work is all around capturing, processing, and doing useful things with large amounts of data. This also happens to make them really good at doing targeted advertisements too.

desas 14y ago

I'd argue that google is an ai company at heart, that just happens to make a fortune selling ads.

jonknee 14y ago

I think Google is a tech company that happens to be really good at ads (which is uses to fund all of its tech). Google didn't set out to sell advertising, it was just a way that they could continue solving big problems. For example, I don't think Google is spending big dollars on automated cars to advance its advertising business.

awolf 14y ago
Google makes 99% of its money from ads, and it has pretty much always been that way. They're definitely an ad company.
- prof_hobart 14y ago
  Their business model is undoubtedly ads. But I think that's slightly different from saying they are an ad company. As far as I can tell, the primary reason that Google exists is for clever technical people to do new geeky stuff. They need a way to fund that geeky stuff and that's where ads come in, but the ads and the revenue aren't where their real passion seems to be. If they could simply sit back and watch the $$ rolling in through ads without ever doing another bit of innovation, I doubt they would do it. This is quite different from the vast majority of companies. BP, for example, don't exist because their peope are passionate about drilling oil - it's because drilling oil is a very good way of making money. Even companies like MicroSoft exist (and pretty much always existed) primarily as a money-making business. Sure they attract lots of nerds, but the money driven the company's choices of where to deploy those nerds.

amaranth 14y ago

Google is a data company. Their best work is all around capturing, processing, and doing useful things with large amounts of data. This also happens to make them really good at doing targeted advertisements too.