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This is why Google built Chrome. Google's strategy has been to remove the layers between the user's intent to search and Google's own server. Every intermedia

by DevX101 12y ago

This is why Google built Chrome. Google's strategy has been to remove the layers between the user's intent to search and Google's own server. Every intermediate layer that Google does not control is a risk to their business. When viewed through these lens, many of the seemingly ancillary Google business units start to make strategic sense. Android (control the device), Chrome (control the browser), Fiber (control the tubes). Each of these channels is an opportunity for disruption by some competitor search engine and Google wants to make sure they don't get blindsided. Or one of the gateways could demand a massive tribute for Google to pass through (cable companies are pushing for this via the war against net neutrality). If Google didn't have Chrome and Firefox was the leading browser, they'd be in big trouble with this news. Lucky for them they thought about this a long time ago and built a browser which now accounts for 50% of market share. Yahoo NEEDS this deal. For Google, it's a nice to have.

pillowpants2 12y ago
When viewed through these lens, many of the seemingly ancillary Google business units start to make strategic sense. Android (control the device), Chrome (control the browser), Fiber (control the tubes). You forgot Google Glass (control the eyes).
- threeseed 12y ago
  From all indications Google Glass is being shifted towards being an enterprise product e.g. helping people pack shelves. So in this case it doesn't really apply.
  - eitally 12y ago
    As an enterprise dev mgr who has been thinking about prototyping an app to do exactly this (well, actually the opposite -- to guide warehouse staff in the kitting process for manufacturing), I'm curious: where have you seen indications of Glass evolving toward the enterprise? I haven't seen it anywhere, but Google has tons of AR competition in the industrial space already, many of which are FAR more capable than Glass, which is 1) fragile, 2) feature-limited, 3) low res crappy display, 4) not at all intended to work autonomously.
- chrischen 12y ago
  Yes maybe through polarized lenses that filter out all their failed products.
math0ne 12y ago
If google didn't have chrome they would have just paid FF whatever was necessary to remain the main search partner.
- gcp 12y ago
  It's also possible they'd be looking at a stronger and for them untouchable IE->Bing marketshare instead.
bad_user 12y ago
> Every intermediate layer that Google does not control is a risk to their business. Every intermediate layer that Google does control is also an opportunity for lock-in. Which is seriously starting to piss me off, as they are increasingly turning their back on open standards.
- geekam 12y ago
  I remember I started moving out of Google's claws when they started pushing Google+ everywhere. Today my primary browser is Firefox, Search engine is DDG (with occassional Google search), Email is FastMail. The dependency on Google had started to annoy me.
  - conradk 12y ago
    Same here. I used to have Google Mail, Google Contacts, YouTube, Google Search, Google News, etc. I was feeling more and more dependent on one company's goodwill. A few months ago, I renewed my Fastmail [1] account for 3 more years, being very happy with the service. I use DuckDuckGo [2] as my main search engine and love it. I use Opera as my main browser. The only Google services I use regularly now are Android and YouTube. YouTube being totally optional and Android only being an interface to data located elsewhere, I feel free. Sure, Google has access to my data, but they can't lock me in. [1] https://www.fastmail.com https://www.fastmail.com [2] https://duckduckgo.com https://duckduckgo.com
    - k-mcgrady 12y ago
      How is Android without using Google services? Is there a significant impact on the experience?
      - toni 12y ago
        A while back I flashed my Nexus 5 with a CyanogenMod 11 build. I didn't install the GApps package afterward. One thing you will notice immediately is that the battery life lasts much much longer. With casual surfing, watching video clips, playing casual games and Wifi always on, the battery lasts for almost 24 hours. It looks as if this is what the original Nexus 5 should be. All those background Google services and "frameworks" constantly calling back home will drain the battery to the death pretty fast. That's also valid for some other apps. Not having Facebook app installed will increase the battery life too. Sure you have no Google Play store installed but you can always use one of those (safe) apk downloaders like Raccoon[1] or such to login to Play store and download your previous apps. As for other Google services (Maps, YouTube, Translate, GMail, etc.), I can always visit their sites in incognito mode. You will actually realize you really don't need all those individual apps to use these services. They all work good enough in a browser window. [1]http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2772436 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2772436
hrktb 12y ago
Yahoo's main business is not search, so I don't know how bad it needs it. Of course more money is always good, and Yahoo is not a super growing company, Alaso, this is the same strategy that turned Google from "best buddy" to "arch rival" in the eyes of Apple and pushed Apple to have its own mapping service and offer other search options. This is also the level of control that motivates people to try Duckduckgo, or switch to firefox. In the end I think Google has a net win, but the reaction of the partner companies seems to be more negative than neutral.
- groovecoder 12y ago
  Indeed - Yahoo is also powering Weather and Stocks apps on iOS. All the competition is good for everyone.
  - stephenr 12y ago
    Not since iOS8/Yosemite - Apple now gets weather data directly from The Weather Channel, who also supply Yahoo with their data. In that situation Yahoo were just a middle man, and supposedly didn't make the full set of TWC data/functionality available.
- warbaker 12y ago
  Yahoo's main business is its investments in Asian companies. It's a hedge fund with a side business in tech. It's not crazy for them to try to break out of that.
  - wodenokoto 12y ago
    I would say its a tech company that found itself afloat due to some lucky/wise investments. At the core it is still a tech / content company, even though the tech is not producing the money.
- ke7ofi 12y ago
  I’m not sure why they haven’t made DDG the default yet.
enneff 12y ago
> This is why Google built Chrome. Seriously? Do you remember what browsers were like before Chrome?
- ryanhuff 12y ago
  The state of the browser market provided Google the opportunity to be successful with controlling more of the distribution channel. Its clear corporate strategy that when you depend on a small number of others to deliver your product (search), you are in a weaker strategic position. Google offering a high quality browser helps reduce risk. The same goes for Android with mobile search, maps, etc.
- ricardobeat 12y ago
  Maybe your memory is failing you, but FF and Safari were still great browsers when Chrome first came out. Chrome took over slowly because of constant improvement, it wasn't much different except for some technical details and clean UI.
  - dhimes 12y ago
    For simple pages Chrome was faster. But the tradeoff was that you didn't get things like MathML- which was important to- maybe- three of us. And iirc, SVG was better on FF (I did physics tutorial and animation stuff- I told people to use FF). Also, I still prefer video on FF. Chrome is choppier with a lousy connection or hardware. But Chrome is quicker to load a simple site which makes it overall a better experience for passive web browsing. (But to be fair my FF is loaded with add-ons so that may slow it down a bit).
    - Curmudgel 12y ago
      You should restart FF with addons disabled (Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled) and then compare the two. If you want a "passive web browsing experience" on FF, you could create a separate profile.
      - 12y ago
legohead 12y ago
You're giving Google way too much credit for forward thinking. Your rhetoric reeks of conspiracy theories. For one thing, Eric Schmidt was actually against building a browser.
spiralpolitik 12y ago
> Every intermediate layer that Google does not control is a risk to their business. Every intermediate layer that Google does not control is less access to information that they can use to build an advertising profile on you. Hence their strategy of attempting to control the network edges to gain as much visibility as possible (see Chrome, Android, Google Fiber etc).
contingencies 12y ago
You forgot Gmail/Picasa/Google Plus/Google Drive/Google Cloud/Youtube type services (control the server), Google Glass (control the user's visual conception).
hessenwolf 12y ago
So, Google is pursuing vertical integration.
Mahn 12y ago
> If Google didn't have Chrome and Firefox was the leading browser, they'd be in big trouble with this news. One could argue Mozilla wouldn't necessarily consider switching if Google wasn't in the browser market at all, though. Much like Apple wouldn't have dropped Google Maps from iOS if it wasn't for Android.

by DevX101 12y ago

pillowpants2 12y ago

When viewed through these lens, many of the seemingly ancillary Google business units start to make strategic sense. Android (control the device), Chrome (control the browser), Fiber (control the tubes). You forgot Google Glass (control the eyes).

threeseed 12y ago
From all indications Google Glass is being shifted towards being an enterprise product e.g. helping people pack shelves. So in this case it doesn't really apply.
- eitally 12y ago
  As an enterprise dev mgr who has been thinking about prototyping an app to do exactly this (well, actually the opposite -- to guide warehouse staff in the kitting process for manufacturing), I'm curious: where have you seen indications of Glass evolving toward the enterprise? I haven't seen it anywhere, but Google has tons of AR competition in the industrial space already, many of which are FAR more capable than Glass, which is 1) fragile, 2) feature-limited, 3) low res crappy display, 4) not at all intended to work autonomously.
chrischen 12y ago
Yes maybe through polarized lenses that filter out all their failed products.

math0ne 12y ago

If google didn't have chrome they would have just paid FF whatever was necessary to remain the main search partner.

gcp 12y ago
It's also possible they'd be looking at a stronger and for them untouchable IE->Bing marketshare instead.

bad_user 12y ago

> Every intermediate layer that Google does not control is a risk to their business. Every intermediate layer that Google does control is also an opportunity for lock-in. Which is seriously starting to piss me off, as they are increasingly turning their back on open standards.

geekam 12y ago
I remember I started moving out of Google's claws when they started pushing Google+ everywhere. Today my primary browser is Firefox, Search engine is DDG (with occassional Google search), Email is FastMail. The dependency on Google had started to annoy me.
- conradk 12y ago
  Same here. I used to have Google Mail, Google Contacts, YouTube, Google Search, Google News, etc. I was feeling more and more dependent on one company's goodwill. A few months ago, I renewed my Fastmail [1] account for 3 more years, being very happy with the service. I use DuckDuckGo [2] as my main search engine and love it. I use Opera as my main browser. The only Google services I use regularly now are Android and YouTube. YouTube being totally optional and Android only being an interface to data located elsewhere, I feel free. Sure, Google has access to my data, but they can't lock me in. [1] https://www.fastmail.com https://www.fastmail.com [2] https://duckduckgo.com https://duckduckgo.com
  - k-mcgrady 12y ago
    How is Android without using Google services? Is there a significant impact on the experience?
    - toni 12y ago
      A while back I flashed my Nexus 5 with a CyanogenMod 11 build. I didn't install the GApps package afterward. One thing you will notice immediately is that the battery life lasts much much longer. With casual surfing, watching video clips, playing casual games and Wifi always on, the battery lasts for almost 24 hours. It looks as if this is what the original Nexus 5 should be. All those background Google services and "frameworks" constantly calling back home will drain the battery to the death pretty fast. That's also valid for some other apps. Not having Facebook app installed will increase the battery life too. Sure you have no Google Play store installed but you can always use one of those (safe) apk downloaders like Raccoon[1] or such to login to Play store and download your previous apps. As for other Google services (Maps, YouTube, Translate, GMail, etc.), I can always visit their sites in incognito mode. You will actually realize you really don't need all those individual apps to use these services. They all work good enough in a browser window. [1]http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2772436 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2772436

hrktb 12y ago

Yahoo's main business is not search, so I don't know how bad it needs it. Of course more money is always good, and Yahoo is not a super growing company, Alaso, this is the same strategy that turned Google from "best buddy" to "arch rival" in the eyes of Apple and pushed Apple to have its own mapping service and offer other search options. This is also the level of control that motivates people to try Duckduckgo, or switch to firefox. In the end I think Google has a net win, but the reaction of the partner companies seems to be more negative than neutral.

groovecoder 12y ago
Indeed - Yahoo is also powering Weather and Stocks apps on iOS. All the competition is good for everyone.
- stephenr 12y ago
  Not since iOS8/Yosemite - Apple now gets weather data directly from The Weather Channel, who also supply Yahoo with their data. In that situation Yahoo were just a middle man, and supposedly didn't make the full set of TWC data/functionality available.
warbaker 12y ago
Yahoo's main business is its investments in Asian companies. It's a hedge fund with a side business in tech. It's not crazy for them to try to break out of that.
- wodenokoto 12y ago
  I would say its a tech company that found itself afloat due to some lucky/wise investments. At the core it is still a tech / content company, even though the tech is not producing the money.
ke7ofi 12y ago
I’m not sure why they haven’t made DDG the default yet.

enneff 12y ago

> This is why Google built Chrome. Seriously? Do you remember what browsers were like before Chrome?

ryanhuff 12y ago
The state of the browser market provided Google the opportunity to be successful with controlling more of the distribution channel. Its clear corporate strategy that when you depend on a small number of others to deliver your product (search), you are in a weaker strategic position. Google offering a high quality browser helps reduce risk. The same goes for Android with mobile search, maps, etc.
ricardobeat 12y ago
Maybe your memory is failing you, but FF and Safari were still great browsers when Chrome first came out. Chrome took over slowly because of constant improvement, it wasn't much different except for some technical details and clean UI.
- dhimes 12y ago
  For simple pages Chrome was faster. But the tradeoff was that you didn't get things like MathML- which was important to- maybe- three of us. And iirc, SVG was better on FF (I did physics tutorial and animation stuff- I told people to use FF). Also, I still prefer video on FF. Chrome is choppier with a lousy connection or hardware. But Chrome is quicker to load a simple site which makes it overall a better experience for passive web browsing. (But to be fair my FF is loaded with add-ons so that may slow it down a bit).
  - Curmudgel 12y ago
    You should restart FF with addons disabled (Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled) and then compare the two. If you want a "passive web browsing experience" on FF, you could create a separate profile.
    - 12y ago

legohead 12y ago

You're giving Google way too much credit for forward thinking. Your rhetoric reeks of conspiracy theories. For one thing, Eric Schmidt was actually against building a browser.

spiralpolitik 12y ago

> Every intermediate layer that Google does not control is a risk to their business. Every intermediate layer that Google does not control is less access to information that they can use to build an advertising profile on you. Hence their strategy of attempting to control the network edges to gain as much visibility as possible (see Chrome, Android, Google Fiber etc).

contingencies 12y ago

You forgot Gmail/Picasa/Google Plus/Google Drive/Google Cloud/Youtube type services (control the server), Google Glass (control the user's visual conception).

hessenwolf 12y ago

So, Google is pursuing vertical integration.

Mahn 12y ago

> If Google didn't have Chrome and Firefox was the leading browser, they'd be in big trouble with this news. One could argue Mozilla wouldn't necessarily consider switching if Google wasn't in the browser market at all, though. Much like Apple wouldn't have dropped Google Maps from iOS if it wasn't for Android.