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It's fascinating to see how well Google has branched out. It started as just a search engine competing with Lycos, AltaVista, & Yahoo and yet they didn't just s

It's fascinating to see how well Google has branched out. It started as just a search engine competing with Lycos, AltaVista, & Yahoo and yet they didn't just stop, they kept going. They built all these new services & products around their core product (search) and it's paid off tremendously. It's definitely something to model future companies off of. When you win the race, don't stop, keep running.

ameen 13y ago
I'd say it still hasn't branched out. It is very much an "internet" company. So anything related to the internet (and data nowadays) is somehow going to benefit their bottom-line.
- sn0v 13y ago
  That said, no internet company has products as diverse as Google's? Smartphone OS, wearable computing, gigabit internet etc.
  - jfoster 13y ago
    Autonomous cars, too.
    - shahar2k 13y ago
      autonomous cars mean people can be on the internet while driving.
      - jfoster 13y ago
        But they also do so much more than that.
      - methodin 13y ago
        I can imagine if Space X was Google it would be stated that the only reason for the project is that they want to serve ads in space.
      - dntrkv 13y ago
        You can make that connection with anything any company does.
        leot 13y ago
        Yes, like a box making company. Or a johnny-on-the-spot one.
      - TeMPOraL 13y ago
        I think the phrase "to be on the internet" is going to finally loose its meaning soon. With everything around you (and on you) connected to the global network, you'll be on the Internet all the time. Just as you have your eyes and ears open all the time.
zalew 13y ago
it's not branching out as much as broadening their distribution channels. every project meant to increase availability of internet access is increasing google ad traffic, but hey, this one is crazy and amazing!
rfnslyr 13y ago
And now they sell your data?
- redthrowaway 13y ago
  No, they sell ads targeted at you based on your data. Nobody but Google and the gov't has access to any of your data on their servers.
temp453463343 13y ago
Almost everything they're done is centered around ads and getting more data on their users to sell more ads. Even this project, in the end it's about getting more people online to look at their ads. (not sure how much ad revenue you can get from poor places, but whatever) EDIT: To those saying they're playing the long game; Playing the long game doesn't make sense. The long game is being fully wired. By the time poor areas become economically important enough to be advertised to, they will have traditional telecoms servicing them.
- HaloZero 13y ago
  Even if its true, it's still a great win-win for everybody then.
- redthrowaway 13y ago
  >not sure how much ad revenue you can get from poor places, but whatever They're playing the long game. They see the third world as a market in the making, and they want to be entrenched when it develops.
- ngoldbaum 13y ago
  They're thinking long term. If you provide cheap (free?) balloon-based internet access, you will open opportunities for people who have little access to the outside world.
- eaurouge 13y ago
  The long game is being fully wired. No, the long game is wireless communications (and renewable energy). One of the reasons for fast growth in some developing countries is the fact that they don't have to make the same investments in infrastructure that developed countries made in the past.
  - vinceguidry 13y ago
    Wireless is a hack, it will never replace wired. Sure, in Africa they get online with mobile phones, but that's only because it's not profitable _yet_ to run landlines. Even 56K would be better than mobile, but since it's Africa they don't even have that. Give it a few more decades and they'll be wired just like everyone else.
bayesianhorse 13y ago
Building computer networks and artificial intelligence are pretty much Google's core competencies. Most if not all other companies would struggle to fund and develop this project. First of all, the system is in total very expensive: You don't get any coverage with just a few baloons, you probably need hundreds to make any of them stay connected to the rest of the internet most of the time. Second, this system is extremely stochastic and complex. The winds are mildly predictable, so they will have to optimize the balloon paths to cover their userbase. This is a very exciting problem once you think about it...
- shantanubala 13y ago
  > This is a very exciting problem once you think about it... That's a good summary of why Google has been so successful. They have a way of making engineers and regular people really excited about their projects. It's a feedback loop - have exciting stuff, recruit smarter people, work on more exciting stuff.
  - Chronic24 13y ago
    Downvote.
  - millstone 13y ago
    Google has many exciting projects, but those are not responsible for its success. Google's success is owed to comparatively pedestrian products: a search engine and an ad brokerage. Take away Glass, self driving cars, Loon, and all the other blue sky projects, and you still have a wildly successful company. But take away those two cash cows and Google is broke.
    - bayesianhorse 13y ago
      I think you are misunderstanding google. For one thing, search engines and their Ad system is the same class of problem as the Loon project: Large Scale stochastic computation. On the other hand there is no telling what sorts of massive successes will come out of Google. They will have their stakes in any mass-produced self-driving car, Google Glass is at least going somewhere, and Android is already very popular and enabling Google to get Ad revenue without being fought by Apple every inch of their way. The stock price and market capitalization is driven both by current revenue but more so by these insane projects and the probability that there will be another big success.
mbesto 13y ago
It's fascinating to see how well Google has branched out. It started as just a search engine competing with Lycos, AltaVista, & Yahoo and yet they didn't just stop, they kept going. This project is not a branching out. This is what happens when it's cheaper to expand your market (create the pie bigger) than trying to cutting into market share (take a bigger bite out of the pie). Driverless cars is no different.

ameen 13y ago

I'd say it still hasn't branched out. It is very much an "internet" company. So anything related to the internet (and data nowadays) is somehow going to benefit their bottom-line.

sn0v 13y ago
That said, no internet company has products as diverse as Google's? Smartphone OS, wearable computing, gigabit internet etc.
- jfoster 13y ago
  Autonomous cars, too.
  - shahar2k 13y ago
    autonomous cars mean people can be on the internet while driving.
    - jfoster 13y ago
      But they also do so much more than that.
    - methodin 13y ago
      I can imagine if Space X was Google it would be stated that the only reason for the project is that they want to serve ads in space.
    - dntrkv 13y ago
      You can make that connection with anything any company does.
      - leot 13y ago
        Yes, like a box making company. Or a johnny-on-the-spot one.
    - TeMPOraL 13y ago
      I think the phrase "to be on the internet" is going to finally loose its meaning soon. With everything around you (and on you) connected to the global network, you'll be on the Internet all the time. Just as you have your eyes and ears open all the time.

zalew 13y ago

it's not branching out as much as broadening their distribution channels. every project meant to increase availability of internet access is increasing google ad traffic, but hey, this one is crazy and amazing!

rfnslyr 13y ago

And now they sell your data?

redthrowaway 13y ago
No, they sell ads targeted at you based on your data. Nobody but Google and the gov't has access to any of your data on their servers.

temp453463343 13y ago

Almost everything they're done is centered around ads and getting more data on their users to sell more ads. Even this project, in the end it's about getting more people online to look at their ads. (not sure how much ad revenue you can get from poor places, but whatever) EDIT: To those saying they're playing the long game; Playing the long game doesn't make sense. The long game is being fully wired. By the time poor areas become economically important enough to be advertised to, they will have traditional telecoms servicing them.

HaloZero 13y ago
Even if its true, it's still a great win-win for everybody then.
redthrowaway 13y ago
>not sure how much ad revenue you can get from poor places, but whatever They're playing the long game. They see the third world as a market in the making, and they want to be entrenched when it develops.
ngoldbaum 13y ago
They're thinking long term. If you provide cheap (free?) balloon-based internet access, you will open opportunities for people who have little access to the outside world.
eaurouge 13y ago
The long game is being fully wired. No, the long game is wireless communications (and renewable energy). One of the reasons for fast growth in some developing countries is the fact that they don't have to make the same investments in infrastructure that developed countries made in the past.
- vinceguidry 13y ago
  Wireless is a hack, it will never replace wired. Sure, in Africa they get online with mobile phones, but that's only because it's not profitable _yet_ to run landlines. Even 56K would be better than mobile, but since it's Africa they don't even have that. Give it a few more decades and they'll be wired just like everyone else.

bayesianhorse 13y ago

Building computer networks and artificial intelligence are pretty much Google's core competencies. Most if not all other companies would struggle to fund and develop this project. First of all, the system is in total very expensive: You don't get any coverage with just a few baloons, you probably need hundreds to make any of them stay connected to the rest of the internet most of the time. Second, this system is extremely stochastic and complex. The winds are mildly predictable, so they will have to optimize the balloon paths to cover their userbase. This is a very exciting problem once you think about it...

shantanubala 13y ago
> This is a very exciting problem once you think about it... That's a good summary of why Google has been so successful. They have a way of making engineers and regular people really excited about their projects. It's a feedback loop - have exciting stuff, recruit smarter people, work on more exciting stuff.
- Chronic24 13y ago
  Downvote.
- millstone 13y ago
  Google has many exciting projects, but those are not responsible for its success. Google's success is owed to comparatively pedestrian products: a search engine and an ad brokerage. Take away Glass, self driving cars, Loon, and all the other blue sky projects, and you still have a wildly successful company. But take away those two cash cows and Google is broke.
  - bayesianhorse 13y ago
    I think you are misunderstanding google. For one thing, search engines and their Ad system is the same class of problem as the Loon project: Large Scale stochastic computation. On the other hand there is no telling what sorts of massive successes will come out of Google. They will have their stakes in any mass-produced self-driving car, Google Glass is at least going somewhere, and Android is already very popular and enabling Google to get Ad revenue without being fought by Apple every inch of their way. The stock price and market capitalization is driven both by current revenue but more so by these insane projects and the probability that there will be another big success.

mbesto 13y ago

It's fascinating to see how well Google has branched out. It started as just a search engine competing with Lycos, AltaVista, & Yahoo and yet they didn't just stop, they kept going. This project is not a branching out. This is what happens when it's cheaper to expand your market (create the pie bigger) than trying to cutting into market share (take a bigger bite out of the pie). Driverless cars is no different.