Empowerment

But if you want to know the most important thing we would have missed if Google didn’t exist, you need not look any further than the flourishing communities and businesses we have on the Web today.

Google empowered people and businesses on the Internet, and it did this more so than any other company I can think of. It has given people the platforms to voice their opinions, share their lives, and profit from their ventures. Self employment is also more common than ever. Google has helped to make this possible.

Back To Reality: Crucial Times

Thankfully, we do have Google around to keep things moving forward. The company, for the most part, takes consumer interests to heart.

But now comes a crucial time when Google is going to head to head with new issues.

Social networking just so happens to be one of those issues, and it a big one. As other companies (like Facebook and Twitter) establish and build out flourishing social networks ripe with content, information, and attention, Google is left on the bench — seemingly in disarray — and unable to create a product to compete. Buzz was a decent attempt, but releasing an unfinished product to the world that not only felt bare but caused massive privacy issues wasn’t the way to go about doing it, and I don’t think Buzz will recover from this poor first impression.

It also doesn’t help that Google has had a horrible track record when it comes to social media and social networking. It just keeps getting worse.

Another issue centers around Google’s advertising empire: the quality isn’t there. More people are becoming immune to AdSense advertising. As the sheer quantity of advertisements increase, the quality steadily decreases, and this is causing everyone to lose out on opportunity. It’s really not that difficult to imagine another platform coming along and stealing the show as it previously was.

And then there is always the worry of complacency — we need not look any further than Microsoft and Yahoo for the perfect examples. Can Google keep innovating, even though the company’s scope is constantly widening? It’s a tough call, but we remain hopeful.

So, in the end, appreciate all that Google has given us. We are spoiled with free information, content, and entertainment. None of this might have come to be without Google’s vision and leadership.

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