MediaVision Blog : Search Engine Marketing

When Google first began, no one knew quite what to make of it. They had a policy of “Do no evil”, they didn’t conform to traditional business practices, had unique hiring practices and took pride in their inherent quirkiness. For instance, they’re now famous for their dedication to staff satisfaction with their free lunches, massages and relaxation rooms. They also allow employees one day a week to work on whatever project they want.

From being a media darling in its phenomenal first phases of growth, Google now faces a barrage of negative press, as it loses high-powered staff and continuously fails to impress in all areas other than search. In an article called “Where does Google go next?”, Fortune, takes a hard look at all things Google, including whether it can maintain it’s enormous growth and still function with the same eccentricities and pioneering attitude that set it apart from all other IT start-up companies.

It seems that just about every second week we read about another high-powered Google executive or engineer leaving in pursuit of greener pastures. Some start their own IT – related companies, but worryingly for Google, many are drawn to their competitors. Facebook in particular appears to be a popular destination for ex-Googlers.

The reasons for this mass “exodus” as Fortune calls it, are varied. There are those that say Google is losing its shine, that its vague principles and inconsistent business practices are to blame. They believe that the company is fairly one-dimensional, in that it’s only really good at search. All of the other projects that it’s involved in barely get off the ground. It’s plagued by duplication of services, Google Page Creator, for example, was released in 2006, but it does virtually the same thing as a later application, Google Sites.

Resources are also distributed in an erratic and haphazard manner. Some employees are offered blank cheques in an effort to keep them and their innovations at Google, while others have to wage a virtual war to get the engineers that they need to keep existing projects moving. Dave Girouard, vice president in charge of Google Apps experienced this first-hand when he had to lobby for engineers to make needed alterations to Gmail.

Is Google losing its edge?

Perhaps. Perhaps it’s grown to such a degree that it’s succumbed to corporate responsibility and has lost some of its innovative vision. Perhaps it’s in the quest to be more and do everything, they’ve become a little more “evil” than they intended. Perhaps employees are becoming disillusioned with company goals and objectives, and the means of achieving them.

But doesn’t that happen to every company, regardless of the industry? Don’t all employees experience some level of dissatisfaction regardless of access to food and games? Doesn’t this just mean that Google is a settling into its role as a well-established company?

We’ve become so used to Google doing everything larger than life that a few incidents of staff turnover automatically heralds its doom. According to Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, they hire in the range of 100 people per week, so they’re not shrinking. They still announce profits of over $1billion a quarter so they’re financially sound. They have their fingers in more pies than a baker so they are diversifying.

For all that its detractors would have you believe, Google is far from being in any kind of trouble. It has changed and evolved as all companies do, and above all it is thriving. There is no doubt that whatever the future holds for Google, it will continue to grab our attention with headlines for many years to come.