Last Friday, Google’s homepage was “marred” with a huge banner recommending its users to download the “new, safer Firefox 2.0” placed at the very top of the page. Then on Monday, Google threw a slight curveball at those who closely watch the search engine’s every move when it displayed sponsored ads for customized IE7 downloads.
What’s the deal?
Well, it seems two things are going on here. The first is that Google’s pristine, barebones homepage that was hailed as one of the key factors for its rapid growth and acceptance is slowly dying off. This was bound to happen sooner or later, especially as Google has expanded into so many different arenas.
Donna Bogatin at ZDNet.com suggests that the two big promotions on its homepage in the past month and a half are “marks of a change in Google’s “philosophy.” Google’s homepage Firefox 2.0 “recommendation” confirms Google is operating under a new “philosophy.””
The second thing going on here is that close watchers freaking out about Google’s sponsored ads for an “optimized for Google” version of IE7 are reading way too much into the “event.”
It’s not as if Google betrayed Firefox by placing a big banner on its homepage. The only way a user would see this sponsored ad for a Google-influenced version of IE7 is if they searched for “IE7” in the search engine.
If a user was searching for “IE7,” there is a fairly good chance that they are looking for a place to learn about and/or download the Web browser. So, why not give them a place to download a version of the Web browser that is filled with Google goodness?
Essentially, it’s a shrewd business move for Google.
It’s undeniable that this is a slight step away from its close partner Firefox, but when you’re as big as Google is, you can well do as you please. Google is not only covering itself, but it’s showing Firefox and the rest of the world that it will not be chained down by any of its partners, no matter how intimate they are.
Yahoo! has been offering its own optimized versions of IE7 for a while now, which may also be another reason why Google has opted to go this route. With the toolbar market split virtually down the middle between Google and Yahoo!, it seems that Google is responding by offering customized versions of IE7 with its toolbar to maintain its share.
Sources:
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/
wpn-60-20061211GoogleAdsAppearForFirefoxIE7.html
http://www.ineedhits.com/free-tools/blog/2006/12/
google-and-yahoo-jump-on-microsoft-ie7.aspx
http://blogs.zdnet.com/micro-markets/?p=745
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