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Is Google Taking Over the World?

Posted Nov 06, 2009 10:22am EST by Heesun Wee in Investing, Internet, Media, Newsmakers, Products and Trends

It's difficult to deny Google's transformative -- and disruptive -- power on many traditional businesses from newspapers to book publishing. Now a decade after its founding by two Stanford University students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the digital media behemoth is experiencing growing pains -- while reaching for even more.

"And they're not always well-equipped for those challenges," says our guest Ken Auletta, author of the new book "Googled: The End of the World as We Know It." Based on more than a dozen visits to the tech campus, Auletta had access to the founders, CEO Eric Schmidt and about 150 present and former employees for the book.

Challenges ahead.

  • Google faces more scrutiny from governments, including those in China and Europe, says Auletta, a longtime columnist for The New Yorker magazine. There are talent issues. "Top engineers may decide they want to go with a start-up and have a bigger responsibility and leave."
  • And then there's the broader issue of culture. Ruled by engineers, Google has been criticized for being too myopic. Auletta tells Henry that Google indeed has had to mature and become more politically savvy in order to survive and thrive.

One thing is clear: Google has plenty of cash to fight its competitors, whether it's Microsoft or some other "next big thing" that's being cooked up now by two engineers in a Silicon Valley garage.

58 Comments

John
John - Friday November 06, 2009 10:29AM EST

Folks, this is a deflationary crash. The pie is shrinking. There is less and less available to earn. You got the unemployment numbers. With a deflating money supply, it is not possible to earn the same. Google innovates. It will continue to take market share! But beware, you heard it from the trading champion Robert Prechter, this is NOT the time to buy these companies. We have borrowed for 50 years from the future. The future is here. Do not expect good old days to come back. All will crash, because they are over valued: http://www.tradingstocks.net/html/near_bottom.html

san
san - Friday November 06, 2009 10:30AM EST

Google sold it's soul to the stock market. It used to be about "first do no harm" and now it's "we have enough cash to get away with anything we want to".

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday November 06, 2009 10:31AM EST

Google's greed and arrogance will be their down fall. They want to get into everything.

Harold
Harold - Friday November 06, 2009 10:31AM EST

WALL STREET IS MY DADDY !!!!

Terry
Terry - Friday November 06, 2009 10:33AM EST

If they are maybe they can take over the government so we can get free government too instead of the government costing us all $Tillions in wasted tax expenditures. No Senator should be in office more than 2 terms (12 years) and no Congressmen/women should be in office more than 3 terms (6 years) otherwise they do too much harm to us all. VOTE OUT the INCUMBENTS in 2010.

Peter
Peter - Friday November 06, 2009 10:34AM EST

Go figure.....UNEMPLOYEMENT PAST 10% AND WALL STREET RALLIES.

Stephen
Stephen - Friday November 06, 2009 10:34AM EST

NO - next question.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday November 06, 2009 10:36AM EST

Yes, along with Pinky and the Brain.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday November 06, 2009 10:37AM EST

Somebody at Yahoo better unfu$k themselves and realize that Google has a serious market advantage. Partner with Microsoft and beat them! Yahoo finance is far and away better than google finance but google kills Yahoo with calender, groups, and DOCUMENTS. If I could access Microsoft Office in the same way I can access google documents I have no use for google besides the search engine. Wake up! Sticking your thumb in Bill Gates face is dumb business. Stop hurting your share holders.

Rosepw
Rosepw - Friday November 06, 2009 10:38AM EST

Yea keep every body in front of their PC. No one even knows their neighbors any more. Kidds have lost their social skills. We are turning into gazing robots. We are being brain washed like never before. Milk at 8.50 a gallon. everyone working on my street. Fed needs to raise by at east 1% NOW. 1% will not derail economy. Silent int inflation is here. Deflation scare talks is the new KoolAid to fill the pockets of Banks and Multinatonals. People do not even notice it. They are too busy gazing into their screens.

william
william - Friday November 06, 2009 10:39AM EST

finally... an articulate, informative guest to listen and ponder what's in it for me... possible opportunity...

MySay
MySay - Friday November 06, 2009 10:40AM EST

Thanks for this interesting segment. 99% the stuff the media presents about Google is rosy naive bullshit that does not consider the ramifications of this advertising monopoly.

Helga
Helga - Friday November 06, 2009 10:40AM EST

ONE THING I KNOW FOR A FACT:... IN THIS MARKET WHERE UP IS DOWN, AND ABNORMAL IS THE NEW NORMAL..... VODKA ENEMAS ARE MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE THAN OLD TRADITIONAL ORAL METHODS.

Ice Hockey
Ice Hockey - Friday November 06, 2009 10:43AM EST

Google will not be allowed to take over the world--your short memories will kill you--can you say Microsoft and anti-trust. The power brokers in our universe are unknown to individuals like you and me...

John
John - Friday November 06, 2009 10:46AM EST

Has anyone tried this yet? www.dnafxtrading.com

Terry
Terry - Friday November 06, 2009 10:46AM EST

It's amazing how some clueless analyst can lift the market with a GE projection that has as much chance of becoming reality as not materializing. This is especially not credible since GE lied to all their investors earlier this year concerning their dividend. Many investors like myself will never buy GE again when they can so blatantly lie to us. GE gets pumped up to keep the market artificially higher than it should be based on a terrible 10.2% unemployment report.

Wayne
Wayne - Friday November 06, 2009 10:48AM EST

TELL THE TRUCH UNCLE SUGAR. THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS MUCH MUCH HIGHER THEN 10.2 . BUT A LIE WILL DO FOR NOW, RIGHT?

Scott Slug
Scott Slug - Friday November 06, 2009 10:49AM EST

Is there anyway to change the new android phones so you don't have to use google? I f they did store every bit of info forever I would feel better.

Tex
Tex - Friday November 06, 2009 10:53AM EST

GOOG will hit there pinnacle when they take over TT (LOL).

Scott Slug
Scott Slug - Friday November 06, 2009 10:56AM EST

Sorry, If they didn't store every bit of info forever I would feel better.

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