By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-04-07 19:24:46 | Word Count: 664
This just in, Larry Page will take position as Google CEO, again, replacing Eric Schmidt as of today. With Schmidt now taking on the role as the executive chairman for the company many are wondering what will change now that Larry Page has once again taken the lead. Though Google is still proving to be THE thriving search engine force in the industry they have admittedly been facing trying times lately. From lawsuits, to failed social networking attempts, to government inquiries and other failed acquisitions, Google has been struggling to remain a leading force as competitors with less pending issues have been gaining footing on Google through increasing power.
Popular opinion has been pointing fingers at Schmidt to blame for the recent decline in Google operations lately so you can just imagine how eagerly eyes are watching to see what Page can/cannot, will/will not do. The pressure is definitely on Page like he’s never seen it before. Its one thing to be CEO once then put it in the hand of another who gets the blame for all company screw-ups. It’s a whole different beast to play maintenance man and clean up whatever “waste” has been left behind by the leader before you; just ask our nation’s president.
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According to those that seem to know what they are talking about the biggest challenge for Page as returning CEO will likely be helping the company to regain a start-up feel and focus on development processes so that they may better compete in the market where once minuscule rivals are beginning to thrive.
It seems that lately Google has left innovative strategies behind and instead have been trying to play catch-up with social networks by implementing secondary or revamped versions of things that these social networks have already mastered. There was once upon a time when Google led and all others followed. Now it blatantly seems as if the tables are turning and that is of poor reflection on the Google legacy. According to Greg Sterling, Opus Research Internet Analyst, “There’s a sense that they’re turned into fast followers instead of innovators…with Google failing to buy Yelp, then creating Yelp-like products, with Google failing to buy Groupon, and now testing a Groupon-like offers product, maybe ideas coming out of Google are not quite as innovative as they once were.” He didn’t even mention the new Google 1 feature that has been recently implemented and very closely simulates the Facebook “like” button but hey, who’s counting.
In addition to the “following” nature that Google has recently acquired they have also been ridiculed for having overlapping products. For example, Google as Places, Maps, Hotpot and Latitude all basically doing the same thing. Umm, Google, do you not have a form of liaison connecting your 20,000 employees stretched across 40 different countries so that everyone knows what’s being done at all times so you can eliminate such duplication? Just think, the energy it took to create 4 of the same thing could’ve been channeled to create something completely innovative, but then again that wouldn’t be as easy now, would it?
These are just a beginning of a list of issues that need to be rectified over in Google camp and we all just hope that Page has what it takes to fix this. All eyes are on you, Page, how about you try to not further mess this up.
