Why Now, Google?

Why is Google now ending its bamboozle attack on Microsoft? Sometimes the bamboozler discovers serious revenue potential in the attack weapon and decides to make a full commitment to the market, a classic attack. Google signaled this in May when CEO Eric Schmidt announced that the company had a new tag line: "Search, Ads and Apps."

As for why now, Google has the infrastructure and the capital to get past being a one-trick pony. A "black swan" (see Nassim Taleb's excellent book, The Black Swan) could emerge in the search category at any time. Today, once you are as big and dominant as Google in a market, you need to broaden your offerings or risk being eclipsed with no warning or recourse. This is the same reason Apple is no longer Apple Computer.

So Google is now transitioning from a bamboozle attack to a classic attack on Microsoft Office/Exchange. Still with the same purpose, defending search-based advertising against the potential Microsoft threat by diverting resources to defend Office/Exchange, but also now satisfying the strategic objective of adding another major revenue stream.

Copyright © 2007 Philip Bookman

Technorati: Business Strategy, Strategic Planning, Google