- Afraid of Google? -

In the most recent issue of WIRED magazine, there is an article that asks the question "Who is afraid of Google?" Not surprisingly, the answer is "Everyone" - Cable providers, TV networks, eBay, Craigslist, monster.com, telcos, Apple, Microsoft, book publishers, etc., etc.
The fact that people now "google" an item of information (but nobody "yahoos" or "msn's") shows how clearly google has won the search engine wars. Flush with money from its IPO, google now can go in about any directions it chooses.
Yet where will it go? There are lots of possibilities. While many people use the main options on google's home page, there is much more wating in the wings. Here you can see options such as Book Search or Google Earth. Other sections, such as Google Video, are currently definitely no ready for prime time - who watches these jerky and blurry videos on mostly obscure topics?
Naturally, I do not know what the company will roll out next, but they certainly have enough potential to surprise the public and confound their competitors. Remember how much storage space free e-mail accounts offered, before GMail came around and challenged them?
Yet in spite of these potentially great technologies (wouldn't it be useful to replace inter-library loan with google, for instance), there is the danger that google will try to become the portal to everything for everyone. Think of Yahoo!, which combines areas where it shines (directory, e-mail) with lackluster offerings (auctions). Therefore, google should choose its areas of expansion very carefully. I would like to see them take on eBay to create more competition in the auction market, but google would have to get it right (including a payment system) from the very start.

Until next time...
Cyberbeader
http://www.lovebeadsunlimited.com