Digital Thoughts – The Many Faces Of Google

If I were the number one search engine in the world, I’m not sure that I would allow many queries to show my number one competitor’s web site as the first listing, all while not showing any paid listings. MSN doesn’t do this. Yahoo doesn’t do this. So why does Google when a user enters stock symbols, such as the companies own, “GOOG?” Then again, that is yet another reason why I do not run the Internet’s number one search engine, but bringing up stock symbols, in particular Google’s, does provide a great lead into just one of the many intriguing and seemingly mixed messages stemming from the $80 billion giant.

Speaking of fun search queries, try this one in Google – “google news.” Notice how news.google.com ranks number one in the listings. It so happens that Google also owns the only PPC ad on the topic too. Now, try another query, this one for “google chat” as well as “google im” and even “google talk.” Unlike Google News, no organic listing for Google’s just recently hyped and released instant messaging client exists. Yet, for “google im” and “google talk” you could find a paid listing for the client. The program, in beta, requires a Gmail username and password to load, a standard requisite with almost every third party client. Google Talk, as it is called, specifically offers VOIP in addition to text chat, and the program also comes pre-loaded with one’s Gmail contacts along with easy invite functionality. For those wanting to experience the very clean yet focused program on their own, and, in the very real case that Google decides to take down the ads for it, head to http://www.google.com/talk/.

No doubt many more articles will come out announcing the release of Google Talk. The big question, which many will not necessarily address, is why. Always seemingly in the know, MarketWatch’s NetSense columnist Bambi Francisco wrote a few weeks ago on not just why Google might enter the instant messaging market but why they need to enter it. The answer it appears is a simple one. Google might have the largest and most loyal audience base, but even they should not turn down an opportunity to increase it. They have in the past created other products, such as their recently revised desktop search utility with auto-personalizing sidebar, but no other product performs like IM. Users of IM, especially in Yahoo’s case, account for a healthy chunk of a company’s unique audience, and the client leads to a significant amount of a site’s page views, increasing users’ time online and lifetime value. We’ll see what happens with Google Talk, as it’s hard to make one of the most familiar products sexy. Either way, IM helps Google in its subtle attack on Microsoft’s desktop dominance and will no doubt attract fans just as their Gmail has done.

In case you missed it, one of the earlier stories to come out between publications centered on Google’s decision to issue more shares. In what can only be called Google being Google, the company said it would issue 14,159,265 additional shares, a number that just so happens to equal the first nine digits of the number pi, less the starting “3.” That was not the first time Google used a bit of mathematical humor in their public filings. During their initial public offering the number of shares floated by Google paralleled the square root of two, and the amount that they hoped to raise matched the sequence of initial numbers of the Euler’s number, or “e” at 2.718281828. For those curious, it’s also called Napier’s constant in honor of John Napier who introduced logarithms, a function which uses “e” as its base.

All humor aside, other recent Google news does not have the same light hearted tone. Among them includes the conclusion to a lengthy court battle between Google and that talking lizard, aka Geico. Say this for the lizard; he knows how to ramp up the spin machine faster. The fairly well publicized suit involved Geico suing Google for trademark infringement. Google as many in our space are aware and appreciate, allows companies to bid on trademarks. Geico believes that allowing other companies to bid on their trademarks constitutes not only infringement on their mark but that Google should be held liable for damages. The judge concluded that Google’s policy of allowing others to bid on Geico’s marks does not cause confusion, but that didn’t stop Geico from issuing a release claiming victory in the case. What does cause confusion, though, and what amounts to a partial victory for Geico, is Google’s allowing those advertisers to take advantage of the keyword insertion tool and have Geico’s marks appear in the title of the ad. The judge has yet to rule on Google’s liability, if any, for the confusion caused by the insertion of keywords of protected marks into the ads themselves.

Another incident showing Google’s less than stellar public relations side occurred after CNET’s Elinor Mills wrote an article on the power of Google when it came to the unearthing of personal information and the potential misuses that could occur by their storing it. To illustrate what simple searches on Google could uncover, she compiled information found regarding the company’s CEO, Eric Schmidt. The data, while not mind-blowing, was able to show everything from his net worth to certain hobbies and previous activities. None too pleased Google took the unusual step of not just cutting off Ms. Mills but refusing to speak to anyone from CNET for a year. For a company that has worked hard to exude a “be nice” image, this ban shows that this often warm and fuzzy animal will bite.

The noise generated from some of Google’s decisions, miscues in its public relations, and slightly confusing product array highlight the difficulties of running one of the largest media companies in the world. That Google has done this well without the help of a full-time Madison Avenue ad agency speaks volumes to their internal talents. The company, for the most part, still feels to the outside world like a small group of dedicated individuals, not an international behemoth earning billions in revenues yearly. And, despite the mishaps, they still show an awareness and savvy that others can only envy. They continue to focus on the business at hand – increasing their user base, improving search, and satisfying advertisers – but are at the same time OK with implicitly admitting that they probably can’t sustain the 35% annualized growth. But rather than worry or issue guidance, they are using their gift at making the most of situations. How? You guessed it – by printing an additional $4 billion. That’s certainly worth a few corrections in the share price.