If there’s one company that’s hardly been affected by the ups and downs of the last decade, it’s got to be Google, the firm that “does no evil”.
From the dot.com bubble in the early years of the 21st century to the credit crunch at the end, Google hasn’t only prospered but grown from strength to strength and ventured into areas formally under the hegemony of Microsoft and others. To Google has even become a verb in the English language.
It’s also led the way and caused Microsoft to play catch-up, and the truth is the Seattle giant just hasn’t caught up.
Microsoft did its best to push Windows Mobile all through the years of the decade and as the end of the decade nears, its nemesis, Google, is doing extraordinarily well with its Android platform.
It’s even had a bash at what Microsoft considers to be its crown jewels too, with Google Chrome OS, although it’s not going to make waves on that front for quite a while, we think. Its Google Chrome browser is gathering steam too, although it’s a way to go to compete with Internet Explorer, never mind Firefox.
And as far as search engine technology goes, Google remains the paramount force in the market, forcing Microsoft and Yahoo to re-think both their strategies.
It’s made investors happy too. Right now, Google (tick:GOOG) stands at $622.78 on NASDAQ. Its share price has shown a consistent pattern of growth since it floated.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin are aided and abetted by Eric Schmidt, a director of the company since 2001. He was formerly at Novell, Sun and Apple. And its pulled in some outsiders, such as Intel CEO Paul Otellini, to steer its course to one of great pulchritude.
Google News has also dramatically changed the face of the newspaper and magazine industry, while Google Adsense has put money into the pockets of small entrepreneurs and big players alike. Google Books has made a large number of printed works available online. Google Translate makes understanding foreign languages that much easier.
Google’s omnipresence worries many people in many disparate industries. But its success in this decade is just too great to ignore.
