Business Management: Why Google keeps growing
Google Keeps Growing
Sergey Brin and Larry Page met at Stanford University in 1995 when both were graduate students in computer science. At the time, Page was working on a software-development project designed to create an index of websites by scouring sites for keywords and other linkages. Brin joined him on the project, and when they were satisfied that they've developed something with commercial value, that they'd developed something with commercial value, they tried to license the technology to other search companies. As luck would have it, they couldn't find a buyer and settled instead for procuring enough investment capital to keep refining and testing their product.
In 2000, Brin and Page ran across the description of a business model based on the concept of selling advertising in the form of sponsored links and search-specific ads. They adapted it to their own concept and went into business for themselves, eventually building Google into the world's largest search engine, with an index of more than 10 billion web pages and a user base of 380 million people per month in 112 different countries. Following an IPO in 2004, the company's market capitalization rose steadily; it stood at more than $157 billion by 2008, when Google controlled 61.5 percent of the U.S. search market (compared to Yahoo!'s 29.9 percent and Microsoft's 9.2 percent.) Google, however, is much more than a mere search engine. Services include searches for news, shopping, local businesses, interactive maps, and discussion groups, as well as blogs, web-based e-mail, and a digital photo-management system. You can access the results of any Google search from the Google website, from your own user's toolbar, from your Windows taskbar, and from wireless devices such as phones and PDAs.
How did two young computer scientists build this astoundingly successful company, and where will they take it in the future? For one thing, Brin and Page remain at the forefront of Google's search for technological innovations. They believe in the power of mathematics and have developed unique algorithms for just about every form of activity in the firm. One of the most successful algorithms for auctioning advertising placements that ensures the highest possible prices.
Brin and Page have also been remarkably successful in attracting talented and creative employees and providing them with a work environment and culture that foster the kind of productivity and innovation for which they were hired. Finally, although the founders avoid formal strategic planning, they've managed to diversify extensively though acquisitions and key alliances. Typically, Google absorbs an acquired firm and them improves on its technology, thereby adding variety to its own online offerings. Recent acquisitions include YouTube, a leader in online video sharing (2006), Postini, a leader in communications-security products (2007), and Double Click, a leader in online adversting services (2008). Strategic alliances include those with foreign online service providers that offer Google searches on their sites.
