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Google vs Facebook In Social, Innovation, and Growth

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8KLN0n0JfA&feature=player_embedded

He just gave an interview to Bloomberg TV which must have made any Googlers listening cringe.

Here are the main points, paraphrased:

  • Google has given up on social. Facebook owns the social graph, Google can't replicate it, and that race is over.
  • Google is just going to continue improving search instead of trying to compete head-on with Facebook.
  • Facebook is the place in Silicon Valley where all the rockstars want to work. Facebook is Google five years ago, and Google is Microsoft. (Ouch!)
  • This is what was most interesting to us: Facebook and the social graph are getting much better at predicting what users want. As this happens, advertisers are going to have to switch their dollars to Facebook. The way people are buying things is changing. So advertisers are going to have to change their tactics to follow that trend, and that benefits Facebook.
  • The monetization gap between Google and Facebook is closing.
  • Google is growing by 20% a year and Facebook by 100% a year. Just looking at these companies' growth, you have to be bullish on Facebook.
  • And finally: the urgency and passion at Facebook are inspiring. Most of their engineers are rockstars who already have plenty of accomplishments under their belts, and yet they still want to change the world.

Munster basically said that there's nothing at all Google can do to catch up in social. We have an idea, though: swallow hard, and spend $8-10 billion on Twitter.

SOURCE: http://www.businessinsider.com/
 
22 comments
Excellent. This is one of my favourite subjects. I've being following all this for months and had like a half hour discussion about this yesterday in the Shoutbox with others.

I agree with a lot of the points in the clip. Facebook has great advert revenue. They know the persons age, location, status, interests, friends, education etc etc. It knows everything so they can show the perfect adverts. It's a lot harder for Google to show targeted adverts.

As I said yesterday Google is full of engineers. They are mathematically minded and can only do things based on advanced calculations. Stuff like Search, Analytical, maps, Android, Chrome, etc. They are all formed by doing advanced calculations and the result is never beautiful but fast and reliable. For social you need more usability and Google doesn't have that. You had to have an degree to know how to use Buzz it was so complicated. The reason Android works is because it's only a OS that manufactures can use as a great base and then do the real designing.

Google is so lucky Android is successful as the Mobile Market is exploding. They are investing huge amounts of money in mobile advertisting eg buying Addmobile last year for a billion but it's mostly the software part they'll probably control. By 2015 most internet use will be through mobile devices and not through computers. They'll be able to use this to keep their search and default Google programs on their devices. They also are developing so your mobile will become your credit card. You wave your phone above a cash device and the exact amount is deducted from your bank account.

This is where Facebook will be king though when you combine them with mobile. Imagine walking down the street and you pass a music shop. Facebook knows you like a certain band and that most of your friends do too. It also knows that you finish School/College for the year on a certain date. It knows it was your birthday only 4 days ago so you probably have some money from family as a present. Then it knows that tickets for a concert for your favourite band for the day after you finish college is happening only a few miles from where you live. It sends a push notification to your phone telling you as you pass the music shop. It's impossible to get more targeted advertising than that. It's easy money for the company.
 
I agree with most of the things Mr Happy said. I say Google should stick to the search engine thing. I don't see FB covering up the search engine thing. FB searches what users give it. Google searches what internet has to offer. As far as growth is concerned, like Google or any other idea, FB will have its saturation point too. People will stop pressing the like button and switch to something more interesting. But then again FB always manages to come up with something viral and cool every now and then. Thats what makes FB still the best choice for anyone looking to spend some time online. Google did fairly with Orkut in some countries but FB overtook sooner.
As far as adverts are concerned, FB has an advantage but its google who taught people how to reach people at a specific place by geo targeting.
I dont like comparing the two, but if I had to invest my money, it would be FB atm.
 
Google really doesn't have to target social networking, although they have been trying. They already have gmail and youtube, two services which I don't see them dropping anytime soon. I am far more interested in these services and find facebook not interesting at all. Yes the growth is massive, but it might not be as big as you think. When Google was in the same stage of growth that Facebook is in, there growth was at 140%, so sure the 100% compared to the 20% now is a huge gap. Facebook's growth right now is in devolving countries. Here in North America there is still a large population who use Facebook daily, but more and more people realize it is a waste of time. Google is a search engine which helps speed up your time finding the sites you want faster.

Yes Mr Happy mentioned that facebook returns results based on people, and not math, however Google has changed a lot from even last year untill this year. In the example from 3 years down the line, what is to say the way the search results are returned are based on content and people, instead of backlinks. Google has been a top dog for a while and your average user will use Google over Facebook. Google is simple and keeps you on task, do you really see businesses allowing there employees to search with facebook?

Now here is the big point, as Mr Happy pointed out mobile browsing is the way of the future. In 2013 the growth of mobile browsing will surpass desktop browsing. The numbers are not even close, where smart phones are expected to have an advantage of 100 million units. Now the question is how does Google tie in?

ANDROID!

As mentioned Google can use the Android platform to help control and unitize there own divisions of apps. But yes not everyone will be on a android phone, or will they? Android is the fastest selling phone in the world right now, and has over taken Apple's iPhone. Realistically the iphone right now is the only real competing smart phone.

Where is blackberry? Well in 2008 Blackberry accounted for just over 50% of smart phones. In 2010 I heard they were at only 20%. The 30% decrease is a big jump! Now you have to consider this, Blackberry has 80% of the business smart phone market. But why? Well Blackberry server is the only one of its kind and is really keeping them in as a company. There was never a real competition. Android has plans to bring out there own for companies providing a competition. Anymore lose for Blackberry could be the end. They already tried copying the marketplace/app store and it failed, and the new torch sucks! The screen resolution on an old bold is better then the torch, and the touch screen is not as sensitive as an iphone or android.

Now back on topic, this is leaving two major smart phone companies. Why would android have the edge? Well consider the fact that you need to buy all new hardware in order for you to upgrade your phone with Apple (yes you can do it still, like 3gs running 4.0 (I have it running like this) but your average user won't like to go through the trouble of changing the host files). Android can be updated, and runs on a large variety of hardware which the end user can pick.With the addition of the visa technology, and anything else they have in store, it is the way of the future of mobile browsing. As I mentioned the numbers, mobile browsing is the future. So right now the surging Facebook looks good, but really it will even out soon enough leaving the king on its thrown, Google.
 
Facebook and Google competing? not even slightly, they're not even in the same category. Yes Google tried to take a piece of the social networking action, but their primary aim here is not to compete, not at all, let me elaborate.

Google growth compared to Facebook on a graph is low, but that does not mean that Facebook is the winner, not at all, the growth ratio is very much different than the "top ratio".

The only reason Google's growth ratio is low, well, because everyone in the world with a computer, a cellphone or anything that has internet access uses Google. Let me demonstrate the growth level in a simple mathematical example.

Google:

  • Let's say there are 7 billion people in the world.
  • Let's say that 2 billion of them have internet access and use it regularly.
  • That means, approximately (or at least) 85% of that 2 billion use Google for search, maps, email or any of it's popular services.
  • Let's say that Google's usage growth next year is 30%. That means 600 million more people started to get familiar with Google, resulting in a total of 2.6 billion, and that's just a year's growth.
Even though it is only 30%, that is one massive growth. Note that the ratios in my example are way less than the actual ratio of Google usage.

Facebook:

  • Let's say there are 7 billion people in the world.
  • It has been reported recently that Facebook reached 500 million users.
  • Now, let's say that the growth ratio next year is 100%, that means it will reach a total of 1 billion users.
Even with that massive growth (which in my opinion is impossible) it is still less than 50% compared to Google. Keep in mind, it's less than 50% of my Google ratios that I've already lowered to keep things in perspective.

The big difference between Google and Facebook is the audience, while Facebook is very much popular, but it is still a small entity of the enormous universe of the world wide web.

Google is used by "tech ignorant" and "tech savvy" alike, teachers, students, scholars, doctors, janitors, singers, from ages 10 to 80, if not more. Also, Google's audience is not confined in specific regions, age group or any other criteria.

Facebook on the other hand is mainly focused in "developed countries" as DeLeTeD puts it. If anything, Facebook is losing it's popularity, because they realize that there isn't any real use to it other than poke and farm.

Google will never lose that popularity, they can only lose it if they stop improving or do something ridicules like forcing people to use their OS to view Google.

Facebook also only, well, not only, but mostly targets "civilians", by that I mean regular people, and a very small group of regular people. Google targets all, specially businesses, it is because of that Google's growth will always be massive compared to anything.

Google is the place where businesses go to do business. That's like the boss of your boss going to the ultimate boss for advice. That gives Google a great advantage, information. The true new gold. While on Facebook it's concentrated on mere products. ie: "get a new cellphone for $100 USD now!"

Google never really tries to compete with anything, they try to expand their world. They had many failed projects over the year, but that is only because they can afford it. A single successful project of Google compensates for the loss and then some, like Google Mail or Android, which as we all know is a rapidly growing market.

At the end of the day though, Google and Facebook cannot be compared. Like I said, they're not even in the same category, the only thing that connects the two is Google's Buzz attempt, nothing else.

If Facebook tries to compete with Google, search engine wise, they will fail miserably. They can offer all the fancy social features they want in search, but that will never beat Google's simple "type and find" method that appeals to everyone and doesn't require any talent. It is too late for anyone to compete with Google, in my opinion.

I'm not a fan of Facebook, and I doubt I'll ever be one, because Facebook needs a definition or a purpose to be used. Google does not.

The need for search and information will never die, that is why Google is Google.
 
Google is growing by 20% a year and Facebook by 100% a year. Just looking at these companies' growth, you have to be bullish on Facebook.
Click to expand...

Can not compare anyways.. Google has been out there longer anways.. I don't think facebook will ever overtake google.. Alexa just proves that.
 
Only 30% of facebook users are from USA, I bet you that probably 90% of US residents who have access to internet use Google.

So yea..
 
bxflow said:
Only 30% of facebook users are from USA, I bet you that probably 90% of US residents who have access to internet use Google.
Click to expand...

That makes no sense..

90% of the residents use google, but not 90% of google's traffic is from the usa. You're comparing 2 entirely different things

Ontopic, Facebook sucks anyways. Don't people get tired of pinging, twittering and status updates on Facebook for once? I tried it for a month and it's terrible, unless you want to spend hours on stupid games. Go outside =/
Eventually everybody will realize it's dangerous and creepy the whole world knows everything about you (privacy issues) and all the lame 'socialize' websites go bankrupt
 
You peeps are weird :S Since when do MOST people stay on facebook for a long time? I only get on to reply to message or IM friend telling him to come over or something. And yes I do have phone and can text them but some of my friends don't have a phone. Questions?


On topic:
Google CAN be compared to facebook but I doubt there will be much similar things. However, Mark might get assassinated by another corporation *cough* microsoft *cough*. CORPORATE ESPIONAGE! :D
 
el_jentel1 said:
Facebook and Google competing? not even slightly, they're not even in the same category. Yes Google tried to take a piece of the social networking action, but their primary aim here is not to compete, not at all, let me elaborate.

Google growth compared to Facebook on a graph is low, but that does not mean that Facebook is the winner, not at all, the growth ratio is very much different than the "top ratio".

The only reason Google's growth ratio is low, well, because everyone in the world with a computer, a cellphone or anything that has internet access uses Google. Let me demonstrate the growth level in a simple mathematical example.

Google:

  • Let's say there are 7 billion people in the world.
  • Let's say that 2 billion of them have internet access and use it regularly.
  • That means, approximately (or at least) 85% of that 2 billion use Google for search, maps, email or any of it's popular services.
  • Let's say that Google's usage growth next year is 30%. That means 600 million more people started to get familiar with Google, resulting in a total of 2.6 billion, and that's just a year's growth.
Even though it is only 30%, that is one massive growth. Note that the ratios in my example are way less than the actual ratio of Google usage.

Facebook:

  • Let's say there are 7 billion people in the world.
  • It has been reported recently that Facebook reached 500 million users.
  • Now, let's say that the growth ratio next year is 100%, that means it will reach a total of 1 billion users.
Even with that massive growth (which in my opinion is impossible) it is still less than 50% compared to Google. Keep in mind, it's less than 50% of my Google ratios that I've already lowered to keep things in perspective.

The big difference between Google and Facebook is the audience, while Facebook is very much popular, but it is still a small entity of the enormous universe of the world wide web.

Google is used by "tech ignorant" and "tech savvy" alike, teachers, students, scholars, doctors, janitors, singers, from ages 10 to 80, if not more. Also, Google's audience is not confined in specific regions, age group or any other criteria.

Facebook on the other hand is mainly focused in "developed countries" as DeLeTeD puts it. If anything, Facebook is losing it's popularity, because they realize that there isn't any real use to it other than poke and farm.

Google will never lose that popularity, they can only lose it if they stop improving or do something ridicules like forcing people to use their OS to view Google.

Facebook also only, well, not only, but mostly targets "civilians", by that I mean regular people, and a very small group of regular people. Google targets all, specially businesses, it is because of that Google's growth will always be massive compared to anything.

Google is the place where businesses go to do business. That's like the boss of your boss going to the ultimate boss for advice. That gives Google a great advantage, information. The true new gold. While on Facebook it's concentrated on mere products. ie: "get a new cellphone for $100 USD now!"

Google never really tries to compete with anything, they try to expand their world. They had many failed projects over the year, but that is only because they can afford it. A single successful project of Google compensates for the loss and then some, like Google Mail or Android, which as we all know is a rapidly growing market.

At the end of the day though, Google and Facebook cannot be compared. Like I said, they're not even in the same category, the only thing that connects the two is Google's Buzz attempt, nothing else.

If Facebook tries to compete with Google, search engine wise, they will fail miserably. They can offer all the fancy social features they want in search, but that will never beat Google's simple "type and find" method that appeals to everyone and doesn't require any talent. It is too late for anyone to compete with Google, in my opinion.

I'm not a fan of Facebook, and I doubt I'll ever be one, because Facebook needs a definition or a purpose to be used. Google does not.

The need for search and information will never die, that is why Google is Google.
Click to expand...
exactly right.
so much writing! omg :O
 
There are approx 1,966,514,816 internet users throughout the world (Fig. is from 2010). As elj said about 80% use Google. So about 1,573,211,853 people use Google. Say 40% of them use it regularly. So about 629,284,741 use google every week. Total number of searches easily crosses billions every week. Also there are 193.3 million Gmail users.
So even if google grows by 20% each year and Facebook by 100% a year. It would take time for facebook to catch on.
And yeah Google and Facebook both are innovative and are growing fast. But theres no point comparing them as they target different purposes.
 
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