Google Google Is A Web Based Company Essay Example

are relevant to user’s search, and they are not just general ads on pages. This is a smart business idea for both parts (advertiser and consumer) because the user is naturally interested in what he or she is searching for and the ads are therefore lucrative. The advertiser’s ads will at the same be much more efficient and the probability that the user looks them up is much greater when they appear on corresponding searches. Google’s products are divided in five (+two) sub-categories: 1. Search 2. Communicate - show & share.

. Enhance your computer 4. Explore & innovate 5. Go mobile a. (Bonusx2) Advertising (The actual money-makers) The full range of products and services: 1.

Google. com: Google WebSearch Google Image Search Google Book Search Google Scholar Google Base Google Finance Google News Personalized Homepage and Search Google Co-op and Custom Search Google Video and YouTube 2. Communication, Collaboration and Communities: Google Docs & Spreadsheets Google Calendar Gmail Google Groups orkut Blogger 3. Downloadable applications: Google Desktop Google Pack Google Toolbar 4.

Google GEO: Google Earth Google Maps Google Sketchup and Sketchup Pro Google Checkout a. Google AdSense 5. Google Mobile: Google Maps for Mobile Blogger for Mobile Google Gmail, News and Personalized Home for Mobile Google Labs a. Google AdWords 1 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Mission statement and goals Google’s very short but explicit mission statement is the following: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”.

(Google. com/corporate) They have a lot of goals and to briefly describe some of them: They want to improve their internal infrastructure to make their engineers more productive.

They want to become the best-in-field

by having the world’s top research laboratory. They aim to get rid of spam from the top 20 biggest user languages. They aim to push their ad system and increase the profits; they aim is to sell $1B of new inventory. Increase the scale of innovation.

Develop new products. Improve their existing services. Increase the existing and new products/services advertisement. Expand into new markets.

Fight off hackers more effectively. Maintain their position. Those are the goals and the mission statement for Google. It can be said that they have really pushed themselves to achieve their goals.

Regarding the mission statement, they are the biggest “information centre” in the world and it’s definitely universally useful, since they have domains for almost all of the countries.

Some of the goals like pushing their ad system and eliminating spam in top 20, are goals that were set during 2006, and by doing a remarkable job they have actually already achieved these goals. We can establish that Google is a very fast developing company and that’s because of their adaptability in a fast developing market, something that Yahoo has failed to do in the last few years.

The next step will be to actually take over the whole market since they already are the biggest. That can be done by maintaining/improving their competitive advantage with new product development and new market entry. When its said that Google is entering a new market, it usually means that Google is making an acquisition of the leading competitor.

Google is famous for such cases. An example of Google’s new market entry is the actual buying-out of Youtube for $1. 6B in November 2006 which ensured them

with a head on start because Youtube was the leadier in the internet video sharing field.

This is a rare case of such rapid advancement in a new market which can only be done with good financial backings which Google’s not lacking.

There are numerous examples like the before-mentioned. Such as the DoubleClick’s (Global leader in digital marketing technology and services) acquisition for $3. 1B in 2007 which further improved Google’s position in the marketing business. Another recent case is the Postini acquisition for $625M. Postini is a global leader in on-demand communications security and compliance solutions, serving more than 35,000 businesses and 10 million users worldwide.

These are just a few examples of how diverse Google is and is going to be in the future.

This will ensure Google’s longevity and dominance in the market. 2 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Company’s approach to social responsibility Google is a web based company as before mentioned, and that makes them more or less limited regarding code of ethics. Google is trying to take social responsibility anyway by running different kinds of ethic projects. For instance, Google provided Abuja (Nigerian city) with a fully wireless network connection.

They created a citywide WiFi-network for San Francisco. The also generated $2M to MIT’s “One Laptop Per Child” program. They will also limit their own search system in China and therefore lose some profit by censoring the search results. This is none of their responsibility but they still do it because of the ethical correctness. Google offers different kinds of useful services. They have a wide assortment of products, none of which costs users a single penny.

Not to mention the complexity

and production-cost of some of the products offered, such as Google Earth.

Satellite imagery was formerly a government-only exclusive, but thanks to Google, the world became available to the masses, free of charge. Google Earth is such a complex and great tool that its almost unbelievable it is a reality. People love it, and by using it, they subconsciously gain Google’s trust and therefore are more likely to use some of their other services and further advertise the company.

By that Google’s number of users keeps growing and growing, as well as the number of costumers i. e. advertisers which generate almost all of Google’s income. Another Google exclusive is the idea of an online library called Google Book.

Its basically what it says, a collection of digitalized versions of books. Another plus for the company and a new-user treat. It’s a really helpful service which offers books just a single click away. Again free of charge. Its amazing how such demanding projects are offered without compensation.

All of these different contributions, projects and own-taking-action-things they do go under the “code of ethics” and also approach social responsibility. The question is, are they really just approaching social responsibility or just adding value to their brand? Does it really matter?

No, because as long as they contribute with such things as above mentioned, its not so important if they are at the same time adding value to their own company. As a matter of fact, that is why all of the companies do these contributions. They are actually a smart business idea, since they provide free publicity and a better image for a company.

3 Buma 1001 Google Case

Study Porter’s 5 forces analysis The following Porter’s five forces analysis will help us understand Google’s competitive environment. The analysis is focused on the company as a whole rather than on single products.

Degree of Rivalry High degree of rivalry. Large number of competitors.

Google has many competitors, but the main rivals are Yahoo, Microsoft (MSN), AOL and Ask. All of them offer more or less the same services like search, mail, communicators etc. But Google manages to maintain its competitive advantage successfully via its unique services. But this not necessarily means that Google is a leader in all of the services. For instance, MSN’s messenger is by far more popular than Google Talk and that poses a serious threat and a share-stealer.

Also the Windows Live service slowly comes into life and that is something Google has to take into consideration. Windows Live is a service which offers numerous online features with just a single account. Features like an MSN account, Hotmail account, Online multiplayer-gaming account etc. Although Google offers a messenger and a mail service, it still hasn’t got any gaming services and it would be wise if Google starts to take into consideration the gaming market, which has a annual turnover of $9B. Threat of Entry High threat of new entry.

Relative easiness to enter the market.

Although there are already existing competitors, the threat of new entry is high because of the relative low cost to enter the market. By relative its considered that in order to become successful and standout in the highly competitive market, a ground-breaking idea is needed, something that the rivals haven’t though of. A clear example for that

is Google itself.

It al started as a two-guy-project in a small rented garage not that long ago. And look at what that modest project turned out to be. So small time player should not be underestimated, because Google once was at that stage, and they know it. Threat of Substitutes

Relative threat of substitution.

This poses a relative threat because there are alternative sources of information, but none is as reliable and “rich” as the internet based one. Television, newspapers, radios, books etc. all serve as research alternatives, but as mentioned, it’s a relative threat i. e.

no threat at all because internet provides information on demand, real time. (Continued…) 4 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Buyer Power Large number of users. Company relies heavily on users. Low cost of substitution. The users have an immense power over the company because they are the reason for its existence.

Without them the internet is nothing.

The internet is not a human necessity so its heavily dependent on the consumer’s willingness to use it. This means that Internet browsers have to maintain a good image and keep disappointment levels as low as possible because there is a high threat of substitution with another. All of the players know this very well and they try their best in doing so. Some excel more in that and Google is an example.

It maintains its number of users by providing them with a huge research database and using the best buyer of costumers, free stuff.

And the free stuff offered are truly worth gold and people appreciate it and show their gratitude by remaining loyal to them. But there is always room for disappointment

and that’s something that should be avoided. Supplier Power Wide assortment of free-services.

Respected & popular brand. Google sustains its supplier power by keeping the buyer power satisfied. Consumers are the main drivers of the supplier’s power because they, in a way, make Google powerful. For instance, many companies see a great opportunity for advertisement on Google because of the sheer number of visitors per day.

And that would not be possible if the visitors are not pleased with the service. So Google is extremely dependent on the company’s willingness to advertise themselves and the user’s willingness to search for information. Summary The bottom line is that Google is a very successful company and it thrives in an industry full of fierce competition which was already well established before Google’s entry. That clearly shows that the environment is entry-friendly, but this is not to be taken lightly because of the fact that success is a measure of how well a company is managed, as well as consumer satisfaction. Buma 1001 Google Case Study Involvement in foreign markets 57% USA UK 15% Rest 28% *The chart is based on the fiscal year 2006.

2006 Revenues USA: 6. 030. 100. 000,00 $ UK: 1. 603.

800. 000,00 $ Rest: 2. 970. 900. 000,00 $ (60. 5% increase) (82.

6% increase) (97. 6% increase) 2005 Revenues USA: 3. 757. 071.

651,09 $ UK: 878. 313. 253,01 $ Rest: 1. 503. 491.

902,83 $ Total: 10. 604. 900. 000,00 $ (72. 8% increase) Total: 6.

137. 094. 907,41 $ 6 Buma 1001 Google Case Study PESTEL analysis It is crucial for a company to know about the whereabouts of the environment it plans to gain entry

to.

Meaning that all aspect of the environment should be taken into consideration. A more in depth analysis is being presented below.

Political Some political restrictions. No political restrictions apply to Google because of the specificity of the business they are in. Cyber-business is an interesting topic because its globally present and no political rules can be established for it. An example of a political restriction would be a country which refuses to use computers and web applications, but there is no such country because computers are beneficial.

Maybe a political restriction would be a government’s insistence on using domestic products, such as China with their Google equivalent Baidu. com, but this poses no threat either because it all remains as an individual preference, and its more of a cultural issue.

Also a country that’s in a war stage may affect Google’s income from that region in both positive and negative way. Negatively, the war itself way bring electricity break-downs and refugee situations, but positively people may use the internet to be up-to-date with the events in the war-struck country. Economical

Some economical restrictions. An example of an economical restriction would be a country in Africa, which lack’s the resources essential for an infrastructure like the internet. It may lack in peoples ability to buy computers and the non-profitability of setting a network infrastructure by local businesses.

There were instances when Google offered cheap solutions for people and free help mentioned on page. 3, which would not only buy them image but costumers as well. Socio-cultural People’s interest in internet grows rapidly. People like socializing, and Google offers that. People like Google.

The ever-growing internet popularity ensures Google

with a bright future. Also Google offers socializing services for people which attract more users. But a noticeable mention is that its not the best in branch, for example Google Talk is way surpassed by MSNm as mentioned before. Also the okrut service and the Blogger offer people some space for their own expression.

The image that Google boasts as the leader in information seeking and internet-applications makes sure that it will keep it’s current costumers and possibly attract others as well. (Continued…) 7 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Technological

New opportunities with the technological advancements. Business can thrive anywhere. As the computer technology advances, more opportunities will be available for Google’s prosperity.

An example of such would be that not so long ago, video streaming was not so available on the internet as it’s now. But then along came Youtube and changed it all with its revolutionary service that offered people online space which they may use for personal video uploads. Google tried to enter that market with Google Video, but with no real success. That led to Google’s buying-out of its main competitor and granting it a top spot in the market.

Google’s business can thrive anywhere as long as there appropriate conditions, such as electricity. Environmental Business is dependent on abundant resources. Business can thrive anywhere. The beauty of this business is that it depends on simple resources such as electricity and information which can be found almost everywhere. As long as there’s electricity and human’s willingness to research and advertise, Google will prosper if it continues to maintain its status. Google is not dependent on natural resources, except some, and it exists in

a virtual world.

So theoretically it can exist anywhere, which is the case. Legal Cyber criminal loves Google. No legal restrictions. The only semi-legal semi-cultural restriction would be the hacker’s intention to exploit security holes for personal gains, which happened with the use of bogus-link’s for the adds, granting the hacker valuable information. 8 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Porter’s generic strategy evaluation Google is a particularly interesting example of a company that adopts more than one strategy.

Its being thought of that for a company to be successful, one must focus on one strategy.

But Google proves the opposite, and an elaboration of each one can be found further: Cost leadership strategy Google offers a majority of its products for free, rendering no cost for the user. Its amazing how Google makes such profits when it seemingly makes no money out of them. The secret why Google is so successful is that all of the profits are generated by advertising other companies.

A smart move by Google is that it aims all of the companies existing, not just the big ones. It offers cheap advertising solutions via it’s ingenious tools called AdWords and AdSense.

AdWords is a tool which allows practically anyone with a will to advertise to do so. The tool is as simple as it gets, requiring only basic information from costumers. It works in a way that, through this program, costumers advertising information is being added and then, the next time a person searches for information on the web through Google’s browser, there is a chance that the ad will appear as a link in their search offering similar services. Now, the magic

in it is that the advertising service is free, and Google only charges as long as an action is performed on the link.

Google offers 3 payment methods: o cost-per-click (advertisers pay whenever their link is clicked) o cost-per-impression (advertisers pay a number of times-fixed fee for their ad to appear) o pay-per-action (advertisers pay whenever a certain action is performed on their site) AdSense is more concentrated on Google’s network members, and it comes into 4 different packages: o AdSense for search (displays relevant advertisements within the search results) o AdSense for content (displays advertisements relevant to content on member sites) o AdSense for domains (allows website owners to generate revenue via user-generated traffic) o AdSense for feeds (allows publishers to generate revenue through text ads) Differentiation strategy Google successfully maintains it’s competitive advantage by differentiating it’s products and services from the ones offered by competitors. An example would be Gmail, which is Yahoo Mail’s contender.

Although it’s the same service, Google introduced new possibilities in the mailing world, such as the increased storage space, which set new standards for the others to follow. Another example is the Google Toolbar which now poses a standard tool offered by all competitors, but was firstly introduced by Google.

Then there is Google Calendar, Google Video… a full list of products, available only with Google that attract new users daily. Differentiation focus strategy Besides the cyber-market, Google focuses on the real life world in order to gain future consumers and at the same time sustain a better image as a whole. That is being done by the company’s presence in charities and it’s scholarships offers for ambitious students.

9 Buma 1001 Google Case Study SWOT analysis

The following analysis is used for determining both internal and external factors that may affect a business. It would help in understanding how Google rates itself in its environment and on which areas should it concentrate more. Strengths Respected brand.

Financial resources. Highly skilled employees. Innovative. Google managed to become the leading player in the internet business because of the innovation it brought with it and with the help of it’s highly skilled employees.

Those two things provided Google with great financial gains and helped in the building of the current image it possesses. Weaknesses Weak or no involvement in some areas.

Products and services lack advertisement. Although Google offers an incredible array of products, it still forgets to concentrate on other subject as well which can bring even greater profits. An example of such would be the community websites market. The amount of profit websites like Myspace.

com and Facebook. com generate is substantial, and Google should follow the example of how should sites like that be managed. The current community site that it offers named okrut is not working so well and its just overrun by it’s rivals. So, Google should concentrate greatly on that issue and invest more time in it in order for it to be able to stand up.

This can be done by implementing some of the things that rival sites have, such as blogging and advanced video features. It should also contribute by innovating new features as well for okrut which would ensure an increasing user flow.

A crucial thing must not be forgotten, a reason why the company is not generating maximum gains.

The reason is, ironically, that Google lacks advertisements of its own products. People are not even aware of the existence of some products and the company needs to make sure that’s no longer the case. Opportunities Expanding market. Popularity.

The only thing left for Google to do is to just maintain it’s good image and make good use of the advancing technology and growing market. Threats

Competitor’s products and services. Hackers. The main threat that Google is facing is the competition’s product offering.

Competition like MSN and it’s messenger, Myspace and it’s community site, Youtube and it’s video hosting services (now being acquisitioned by Google), Skype and its free online telephoning service etc. Google need to keep an eye of their development and make sure it has a decent service on it’s own to counter them. Another threat are the hackers, which cause a lot of headaches for Google. They have developed a way of hijacking links and making the one that clicks on the link go to a bogus site which is a perfect copy of a respected site.

Then the user and his information, being not aware of the scam, are exposed to a third party which would misuse the information gathered.

10 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Value chain analysis *Activity analysis (Part I) Primary Activity analysis Firstly, Google should be divided into two separately functioning sectors (which work as one) and analyse them: Google People a. Resource gathering b. Organizing c. Delivering d. Service and support Google Advertising a.

Resource gathering b. Organizing c. Delivering d. Service and support *Note: They may look the same, but they differ in context Support Activity analysis This applies

to the company as a whole: a. b.

c. d. e. Recruitment Training Up to date Smart-play Marketing *Value analysis (Part II)

Primary Activity value Google People a.

Resource gathering o Google collects all data (providing more search results) o It does it regularly (Up to date) b. Organizing o Data is well organized (Well coded sorting of data) o Data is never erased (New and old information can be found) c. Delivering o Fast result delivery o Good relevance of search (Results are sorted correspondingly) d. Service and support o Google offers tool that ease search (eg. Toolbar) o Listens to suggestions o Offers help for any problem Google Advertising a.

Resource gathering o Easy to submit for costumers (Simple tools) b. Organizing o Well organized and contract dependent (see pg. 7) c.

Delivering o Instantaneous delivery of ad (contract dependent)(see pg. 7) d. Service and support o Offers help for costumers o Easy to use tools Support Activity value This applies to the company as a whole: a.

Recruitment o All of the employees are highly qualified (that ensures high productivity) o Employee diversity (Different minds at disposal) o Takes good care of them (Google loves his employees and vice-versa) b. Training o Google provides courses for improvement of employees in the fields needed. (They reduce cost in a way because they save themselves from new employments) (not always applicable) c. Up to date o Technologically advanced and innovative d.

Smart-play o Good leaders behind Google e.

Marketing o A good job is being done at making Google a world-known brand ***It has to be noted that Google works in a cycle Costumers cannot be attracted without traffic(users)

and traffic cannot be attracted without offers (people’s interests and costumer’s advertisements) 11 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Product/market matrix Existing market & existing product/service Google is mainly functioning in an existing market/product environment with a slight presence in the new product/service sector. Google shares the market with his competitors, such as Yahoo, Microsoft, Ask etc. Google offers products and services that are also offered by the competition.

For example Google offers Gmail, Yahoo offers Yahoo mail, Microsoft offers Hotmail and so on… it’s a product based on the same concept, but only successful differentiation will make one sell more than another. A thing that Google does is that it makes the mail function in an invite only method. Now, some would say that is not productive and that they loose users, but actually that saves them from a lot of trouble such as multiple accounts and maintenance cost (this is an example of smartplay which is no longer the case). Also Google offers communication services via Google Talk and that’s something the should invest more time in because others offer better services and by others its meant Skype and Miscrosoft (Msn).

Also a part of Google is the video upload/stream service which again is not the best in branch, being surpassed by Youtube, which is now a part of Google (this is an example of Google’s time saving by buying-out the competition instead of innovating).

Existing market & new product/service This is a case with some of the products offered by Google. Google Earth is a new product in an existing market. It is unique and exclusive, which means that Google is firmly standing on

the World mapping market and it would be hard for others to compete. New market & existing product/service Google Mobile and Google Maps for it is an example for this.

This is a new market for Google which already has similar products to it.

The GPS system is very similar to what would Google offer with Google Maps, but, the main difference is that the sole purpose of the GPS is to assist in locating a point via satellite help, and Google Maps would do the same, only with the ability to use the Browser with it. The GPS shows location and routes, but Google Maps would show not just that, but information related to the location. 12 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Organisational structure Google is definitely not ruled by an iron hand. The company has numerous key employees and they’re specified in different areas. Beside the two presidents (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) and the CEO Eric Schmidt, Google has 8 directors and 10 vice presidents.

Google’s organizational structure is like a pyramid, since they have a small executive board, then a bigger non executive board, and finally an even bigger senior management. (Datamonitor) Google is working hard to be associated with diversity and innovation. They hired 4,994 full-time employees during 2006 (Datamonitor), and none of these were from America. By having a multicultural internal environment, they aren’t just symbolizing diversity but also having a wider knowledge about the other countries and economies. Google also has different programs for the staff, and these programs are always being improved.

An example is the EDGE program where they are trying to make their engineers to become better

leaders. No matter which office it is, Google is putting the same effort to improve them everywhere.

They also have a very interesting Stock Option program that gives the employees stocks in the company like a bonus. Google is convinced that this will even make the staff working harder for the result of a better work will be a higher value of the stock. 13 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Employees When it comes to employment, it can be said that there is no place like Google place. First of all, Google has been ranked no.

1 company to work for in 2005 and that says a lot. Google is a unique company which welcomes intelligence and creativity. It’s a perfect example of a perfect company. Google requires people which are academically proven as well as out-of-the-box intelligent and creative.

The application for a job at Google is the proof for that, having questions that no one would expect from a company like that to be asked.

Again, Google acts smart and it sets an example for the others. People truly love Google as a place to work at, because there is nothing like it. The world’s most creative people work there and it is a meka for productivity. Just imagine, a company… A company free of monotony, free of bureaucracy, free of idea restrictions… A company that’s simply free. Google employees are not only asked to work, but they are encouraged to work. Employees love to work, not because the are forced to, because they like Google.

People are grateful that they are there and they want to repay the favour by maximising their output.

Google offers

first-class dining facilities, gyms, medical examinations, laundry services, massages, haircuts, carwashes, dry-cleaning, child day care, sports, trips, housings… free of charge, and employees love that. This is just a portion of what Google offers to stimulate and promote productivity. It is pure genius how Google works.

It does not stop there. Google offers training courses for all of the employees in need of such. Think of the amount of money and workforce Google saves on because of that, aiming at quality over quantity. Working at Google is not just working, its an experience.

Employees are free to contribute in the best way they can.

If a person comes up with an idea, its not just noted down, its immediately put into force and the person is given a small budget to realise it if its proven worthy. Google also offers scholarships for ambitious students, which is a tactical decision and a smart-play. People at Google are encouraged to prove themselves and thus advance up the promotional ladder.

14 Buma 1001 Google Case Study Changes within Google’s major events and changes: 1996 o Project BackRub (Early Google) (CE) This is basically the cradle of Google’s existence and if it wasn’t for the ambition of the two college graduate, none of the later would be possible. 1998 o Google raised $1M funding from investors. (CE) This event was of key importance to Google’s launch. 999 o Google received $25M from investors. (CE) 2000 o Introduction of AdWords.

(CR) This addition to Google’s product pallet was a core change to how would Google further increase it’s income and revolutionize the online advertising industry. o Introduction of Toolbar. (CR) 2001 o Acquired Deja.

com’s Usenet archive.

(PE) o Eric Schmidt joined Google as CEO. (CE) [The addition of Mr. Eric Schmidt ensured that Google would be led by an able and knowledgeable leader which would change the company from its core. ] o Released wireless search technology for mobile phones in Japan. (PR) o Partnership with Universo Online.

(PE) 2002 o Google Labs was launched. (CR)