There aren’t many big organisations out there that can release one failing product after another and not only survive, but continue to grow. I speak of the almighty Google.
So maybe I’m being a little harsh, Google has certainly made an everlasting impact on the Internet. One that will not soon be forgotten. But it is their core search and advertising business that ensures their continuing success. They have so far released an iPhone killer, Twitter killer and email killer. All of which have yet to pose any threat to their potential victims, despite recieving a huge amount of buzz… pun intended.
Google Wave aka Email Killer
It has been a while now since the release of Google Wave. Remember that wiki/email/chat thing that no one uses anymore? Yeah, that’s the one, the email killer. If anything, it made us realise just how good email is.
Something to take note here is that it wasn’t the product alone at fault for its lack of success, but the manner in which Google released Wave to the public. How can you use the program effectively if no one else you know has access to it? Instead of taking advantage of all the anticipation they had created, Google decided to do a gradual, invite only rollout. Google Wave can only be used with other people who have access to Google Wave, which didn’t make for a very exciting user experience when you logged on for the first time and realised no one else you knew had access.
When Wave did eventually spread to a larger group, it was too late, and although it may be too soon to call it a failure yet, it’s at the very least dormant.
Google Buzz aka Twitter Killer
It doesn’t take much to recall the buzz about Google Buzz… again, pun intended. An almost Twitter like feed integrated into your Gmail account. I was enticed by the idea of being able to check all my feeds in the one place, but Buzz made me realise I don’t want everything centralised.
What’s the point of syncing with my Twitter feed if it doesn’t post to my Buzz until hours later? There’s no real need to sync with Google Reader either, as my shared items are already shared with my followers whenever they check their reader. Google have really just tried to re-create FriendFeed, relying on their already large base of Gmail users. I now only check my Buzz because I have an OCD about unread counts.
Google Android aka iPhone Killer
Ok, so Google Android may not necessarily be a failure, but there have been several iPhone OS killers to come out of the woodworks and the iPhone has remained unmarked. The Palm Pre and Windows Phone updates had almost no impact, leaving Android a tough task. Google has a lot going for it, but venturing into a new market is going to be tough. If Wave and Buzz are finding it tough, and they’re web based tools using Google’s strengths, Android may take a while to be a success, let alone compete with the iPhone.
Conclusion
Google is still very much the leader of search and has revolutionised Internet advertising via AdWords. So why don’t they stick to what they do best? Because what they do best is innovate. If it wasn’t for this thirst for innovation we would be without so many things we take for granted. Google search, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Analytics, Google Reader and Gmail to name a few. Did I also mention that these are all free? So even though there are a few speedbumps along the way, you never know when they’ll hit their next home run… after all, Chrome is still building their web browser market share…
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