In 1998 when the Internet was first introduced to Google, who would have thought that it could be valued in excess of $100 billion in 2009? Whether its founders Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page ever imagined dominating the Internet back then was very likely tied in with their shared vision of what they hoped to achieve. Today Google is one of the most powerful businesses on the globe employing more than 20,000 people unaffected by the recession.
About Google
As if that wasn’t enough to admire about an organisation that leads the world its unofficial slogan: Don’t be evil is, because it is an ethos not always followed by others sharing similar global intentions.
Google’s unofficial slogan, credited to one of its engineers Paul Buchheit, has remained a fundamental part of the company’s overall purpose to help both people and the planet. In 2004 it formed Google.org, a not for-profit philanthropic arm with a start up fund of $1 billion and a mission statement that included climate change, global health and poverty.
In 2008 Google established “project 100” an invitation for ideas to help the global community that allowed users to post votes in favour of those they preferred.
Additionally Google is a supporter of the principle of network neutrality which interprets into a belief that Internet users should be in control of the content they wish to view together with the applications they use. This controversial issue has opponents that would prefer to control and limit user access, even though the Internet has followed this principle since the outset.
Google’s Future Area of Involvement
In 2010 one could be forgiven for believing that Google has either peaked or is satisfied that it no longer needs to expand further. That is not the vision shared either by its founders or chief executive Eric Schmidt.
According to The Sunday Telegraph 4 July 2010, in 2009 Schmidt stated that Google would be making one “small” business acquisition each month. Today Google’s subsidiaries include: You Tube, Double Click, On2 Technologies, Grand Central, Picnik, Aardvark and AdMob.
Google’s expansion is directly linked to its philanthropic ethos which will likely help it achieve any goals it aspires towards. It is no secret that Google has missed several opportunities, Facebook being one. The advent of the social network era has introduced a fundamental change in the way traditional business is managed online, a fact not missed by Google.
Eric Schmidt’s 2009 statement relating to small acquisitions incorporates recognition that it will likely be a small company that offers an innovative online alternative to replace traditional business practices. The Internet allows small entrepreneurial enterprises to compete head-on with large corporations by making visible ideas that might otherwise never have been seen.
Google is searching for an innovative product/service able to be of use to as many 1,604,143,764 (as of March 2010) global Internet users as possible. With 99% of Google's revenue being derived from its advertising programs there’s little to wonder why that should be.
One of the most important arenas currently highlighted as requiring urgent support in order to overcome the recession is graduate employment. The traditional practice of finding employment that is mutually suitable to both a candidate and employer is failing, leaving millions without work.
New ideas that encapsulate society at a global rather than national level follows Google’s ethos. A search of the Internet shows that non-traditionalist thinking is alive and well and already establishing a presence online, begging the question now whether Google will spot the new entrepreneurs before someone else does?
