Q1 four main products of Google
The four main products of Google are desktop products, mobile products, web products and hardware products. Desktop products from Google include stand alone and desktop extensions. Google chrome which a s web browser, the application that allows users to use satellite in virtual viewing of the earth through imagery and photography Google Earth and the video hosting site YouTube are some of the stand alone products from Google. Google toolbar such as browser toolbar is an extension of the Google desktop products. Mobile products are all the mobile applications that are supported by Google. The product that is available for Google mobile devices. Google is known for the Android operating system which is an open source operating system. There are many developers who develop applications that can run on this platform. One of the major mobile products is the Google App Store known as Google Play where all mobile applications are stored. Users are able to buy or get freeware applications from Google Play Store. Web products are divided into several subgroups such as advertising such as Adworks, DoubleCLick among others, communication and publishing in this subtype we have Google Doc, Google Gadgets and Wave. Development is another category of web products they include Google code and Android. Mapping is another Google web product where Google Sky and Google maps are the major products. Google Search such as Google Dictionary, Google Alerts and Google Scholar are also web product subgroup. The last subgroup of web product is the statistics using Google Trends and Google Analytics.
Q2. Web products
Apart from Google Search engine Google also has many other products. There are the old products and the news that have been launched. The web products such as Google Adworks became popular after advertisers realized they can boost their businesses using targeted Google advertisement. This is a Google program where advertisers’ ads are placed on the main search result page whenever users input the key words. The adverts are charged once there are clicks by the users who are interested in visiting the site. Google analytics came into play after advertisers wanted a tool they will use to monitor their performance. Google analytics is able to show advertiser the main source of traffic in terms of the regions and which page was most viewed. Google Adsense is another program for web developers who put advertisement on their web sites and earn from it. Google communication through Gmail also knows as Google Mail. This is a free web mail that enables users to store their electronic mails.
Google mail has been developed further to include social media Google plus (G+) Gmail users are able to create profiles and add people to their circle. With Google Plus as the new answer to Facebook and other social media, Google Company is aimed at retaining its users. There are other forms of instant messaging such as Google Talk commonly referred to as GTalk, video hangouts on Google+ that enable users to communicate video voices. Through Google Mail, Google Doc and Google Calendar apps were developed. The Google Doc is the apps that enable users to create different types of documents without having the software infrastructure on their desktop. It has the ability similar to that of Microsoft Windows Packages.
Q3 SWOT ANALYSIS OF GOOGLE’S WEB PRODUCTS
Q4 Google strategy on web products
Google has employed to strategies in web products. The first one is to integrate the web services and products. For instance Gmail is used to access the Google Play, Google Plus and Google Docs among other web applications. Google Adsense is also connected via Gmail. This means that the user will need the other application or service in order to access more. The second strategy is to acquire other IT firms and work with them. The innovation done by Google is largely from the acquired firms who may have specific technology that Google needs to advance its business. They have facilitated the accessibility of databases of other IT firms. Through quick accessibility of data by users from other IT firms Google is able to generate more revenue on ads. The main purpose of acquiring other firms is to add value to what they already have in terms of users, employees and make profit out of it. The company is able to grow rapidly because by acquiring other IT firms it reduces the level of competition on the market.
The open source community is another key strategy that Google web products have implemented. The mobile based applications are created by millions of developers globally on Google platform. This has enabled the company to have many users who would like to access these services.
Q 5 Google’s mission statement
Google have a mission statement which states “To make the world’s informational universally accessible and useful”. This mission statement has been accomplished in many ways in web products. Google maps are an example where information about each place on earth can be obtained in imagery and photographic manner. The mapping is universally accessible by any person. Google is also the most used search engine which provides information to the users. Compared to their competitors such as Yahoo, Microsoft Bing, Yahoo and Ask Google have given information to users.
This mission has also been achieved by acquiring small IT firms that have information and technology that users need. Google then makes this information available as they put ads on such content. Through advertisements and ads programs Google has achieved its mission of providing information to the users. It is possible even for small businesses to set up blogs and communicate their business presence to the world. The effort to ensure that information from different source is easily accessible for free is in line with the mission statement.
Google also provide web mail services for free to its users. With the Gmail account users are also able to access some of the web applications for free. Google Play for mobile based devices is also accessible through Gmail accounts. The money the company makes is from the ads Google places on the content that it has availed to the users. Google offers free web products that were otherwise commercial by the competitors.
Q6 Strategic alliance
Google over the years has acquired several companies which has enabled it deliver on web products. Google purchased Deja Usenet with an aim of having information that was posted of about 500 million posts. With this information Google will be able to post ads and carry out advertising on these sites to generate income. Another web product that Google has acquired to align with its strategy was YouTube. You Tube is said to have no profits but Google purchased with for about $1.6 billion with an aim of positioning itself in web video applications. Another web product that Google offers currently is the Google Doc. It was the technology initially owned by Upstartle. The company has also aligned with other IT firms in order acquire their technologies. By 2007 Google had acquired more than 10 IT firms. Some of the companies acquired by Google are DoubleClick, PeakStream Technologies; Endoxon; Dodgeball; Picasa, Adscape Media among others.
q. 7 McKinsey’s elements of success
McKinsey elements of success are a model that has seven elements and it is referred to as The McKinsey 7’s Model. The seven elements are strategy which means coming with a plan that ensures one has competitive advantage. Structure is another element; it means that an organization has proper structures that they used to report. This means that there is a proper chain of command. Systems is the third element, this is the place where employees use to get the work done. Shared values, this are the ethics, core value of the company that gives general guideline on how people work. The work must be in line with the corporate culture. Another element of the McKinsey sevens model is the style. This is the style of leadership of an organization. The last two elements are staff and skills. Staff is the capabilities of the employees while skill is the competence of the staff members in the organization.
The two elements of success from the McKinsey framework that Google has used to succeed in web products are strategy and shared values. Google has its core value as “Don’t be evil”. This means that whatever the users do they must keep in mind that it should not negatively affect others. Google Adsense is successful because of the shared values. Web site owners want to make extra cash by allowing ads on their sites while Google also aims at generating revenue from Ads. The “Don’t be evil” core value comes into play where web site owners are not supposed to click on their own website ads. This could be the easiest way to get clicks on your site but Google has regulated this. This has given advertisers confident that if they place their ads on Google advertisement program, they will get a real deal.
Strategy is an element of success from McKinsey framework where Google has been winning competitive advantages based on strategy. They have been able to position themselves as the global web product provider. Google strategically acquires other IT firms that pose competition or they provide a technology that gives a competitive advantage.
Q 8. Google‘s growth limited by laws and regulations
Google faces law suits and regulation in its expansion quest. In 2005 Yahoo, Amazon and Microsoft jointly blocked Google from digitizing, hosting and selling ads against published works (Myslewski). This was one of the projects that would have boasted Google’s aim of achieving its mission. There have been law suits by the competitors with an aim of slowing down growth of Google. Therefore, Google’s growth is limited by laws and regulations.
Q 9. Future project of Google
Google’s future project will be creating web browser that has the ability to allow users to develop their apps without going into the web stores. The apps will be developed and tested right on the web browser. Mozilla Operating system which will be open source software will enable users to access many applications. This means that users will be able to accomplish their tasks on this operating system just like they did on Android and iOS. They will be able to take photos; play games make calls just on Firefox OS.
Q 10 buyout of Nokia’s phone division by Microsoft has any influence on Google’s future strategies
The future strategy of Google will change to counter the effects of Microsoft’s move to buy Nokia phones. This is because Nokia is a global product and has a reasonable market share in the mobile phone industry. Google always come up with new strategies to ensure that it remains on the lead. This means that Google could go out and buy or collaborate with a larger mobile manufacturing. Google are aggressive and very strategic when it comes to dealing with direct competition. The future strategic plans of Google will change.
Reference
Barry, Bryan W. Strategic planning workbook for nonprofit organizations. Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 1997.
Cheney, Frederick W. "The American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Project: what have we learned, how has it affected practice, and how will it affect practice in the future?." Anesthesiology 91.2 (1999): 552-556.
Kim, Gerard Jounghyun. "A SWOT analysis of the field of virtual reality rehabilitation and therapy." Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments14.2 (2005): 119-146.
Myslewski, R. “Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo! To join anti-Googlebook war” 2009
Pfeffer, Jeffrey. "Producing sustainable competitive advantage through the effective management of people." The Academy of Management Executive 9.1 (1995): 55-69.
Schulz, Galyn A. "Embossed fibrous web products and method of producing same." U.S. Patent No. 4,659,608. 21 Apr. 1987.
Pickton, David W., and Sheila Wright. "What's swot in strategic analysis?."Strategic Change 7.2 (1998): 101-109.
Proskine, Emily Anne. "Google's Technicolor Dreamcoat: A Copyright Analysis of the Google Book Search Library Project." Berkeley Tech. LJ 21 (2006): 213.
