In 1990, Bill Gates said the company that could compete head to head with Microsoft did not exist yet. That was a much more prophetic statement than he realized at the time! That company today is of course, Google. The people who work at Google are not like the marketing types or code crunchers who work at Microsoft. They are an interesting and eclectic group of smart, savvy Phd's, and entrepreneurs from start-up companies that were only too happy to be bought by Google. The folks at one of Google's recent acquisitions, Feedburner, for example, were positively giddy over their recent buy out by Google. I guess you could say that Feedburner's SEO strategy was a success for them. At the very least their ship seems to have come in.
Google, like Microsoft, makes their offices places where people like to work. If you could trade the uncertainties of entrepreneurship for a life of security working for a multi-billion dollar company, who would not jump at the chance? I've heard that Google offers extremely attractive benefits, even spectacular ones to their employees, so what is there not to love about working for Google? Google encourages, and even requires that developers spend 20 percent of their time on new ideas and developments of their own. The only problem with the flood of new ideas, is that even a company the size of Google can only implement a very small percentage of these good ideas. There is a kind of elite membership at Google of the club of select few individuals whose ideas have been accepted by Google's management to promote and develop.
When you work for yourself, you have control over your destiny, and decide which direction to move your company in. When you work for Google, you submit to the hierarchy of management that comes along with the territory when you work for any large corporation. It is likely that most people at Google will not experience the same level of satisfaction with the development of a great idea from concept to completion that came from the ones that previously brought them the attention they got from Google.
This is why it seems that there is a recurring exodus of employees from Google, just before they become vested In the company. Does this mean that Google is vulnerable to competition from these companies run by former employees? I don't think so. If Google sees them develop an exciting new technology that meets with success, they can always come around again, and offer them another buyout. If may cost Google more the second time around, and the owners may be more reluctant to sell, but let's face it, Google can afford to buyout any start-up company in the world if they feel their technology is important enough to them.
That is why I don't think any company is going to challenge Google anytime soon. Google owns the search engine turf now, and unless they decide to do an about face on the principles that got them where they are today, I think they are going to remain at the top of the hill for the quite a while. What can we learn from Google? If you have a successful SEO Strategy, stick with it, and you will be rewarded in the long run.
by John Lombaerde, a CNC programmer with over 15 years experience designing, programming and cutting complex parts on multi-axis computer numerically controlled, (CNC) milling machines. He is an experienced Product Designer, CNC Programmer, CNC Machinist, and CAD CAM Consultant. He also is an Google SEO Consultant specialized in Search Engine Placement for Web Site Promotion.
For information on web site promotion, see: The Web Site Promotion Blog
For CAD CAM information see CAD CAM Consulting
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