Google to Acquire Switzerland

For Immediate Release

Google to Acquire Switzerland

Acquisition to justify earlier purchase of Boeing 767

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - July 16, 2007 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)today announced it has agreed to acquire the nation of Switzerland for $510 billion, an amount equal to twice its annual GDP. Company spokesperson Judith Thompson stated the acquisition was made in order to justify last year's purchase of a Boeing 767 airliner.

“Now that Switzerland will be Sergey and Larry's new Christmas home, they will finally have an excuse to fly their jet somewhere.”

~snip~

Well okay, this isn't exactly true.

In fact, I just made the whole dang thing up after reviewing my traffic logs and seeing that a lot of people were doing searches on "Google purchases Switzerland" after my earlier post titled Is Google Really Good for Small Business?

The point I was trying to make with the earlier post is that it's never good for the market when any one company so thoroughly dominates it as is the case with Google's domination of the Net. Almost everyday Google spreads like a cancer into a new space.

I have always been keenly interested in business strategy particularly as it relates to maximizing one’s influence in an industry. One of the finest books on business strategy is Matthew Josephson’s The Robber Barons. The Robber Barons were absolute masters at identifying and controlling the choke points in various industries—particularly railroads. If freight had to be transported by two or more separate railroad lines, as was often the case back then, to get to its ultimate destination, the Robber Barons would look for a means to shoehorn themselves into a controlling position with as little investment as possible. Often this was achieved by acquiring a small railroad that served as a connector between two larger lines. Why spend a fortune to buy a huge line when you could maximize control for minimum investment by only controlling the choke points?

The Google brilliance lies in having achieved almost a monopoly-level control between business and customer. Google is the ultimate online chokepoint. I read a few days ago that Google is projected to control 90% of the search market shortly. Today your online business sinks or swims based on how it does with Google. Unfortunately, Google is a black box designed to extract as much cash as possible from small business in exchange for as little as possible.

Last year I found these comments at IdeaGrove:

But Orchardo believes that whatever the law says, the time will come when the public no longer accepts Google's secrecy.

The public has different expectations for companies that become dominant in their markets and, as a result, assume a big role in our lives. Dominance -- rather than any corporate misstep -- is the reason for the backlash Microsoft began receiving after its Windows 95 peak, and it is the reason for the backlash Wal-Mart is receiving today.
...
Frankly, we much prefer Technorati's transparent ranking system to Google's PageRank mumbo-jumbo, which has birthed a cottage industry of charlatans and witch doctors who charge companies an arm and a leg to mysteriously boost their Google rankings.

That's soooo Web 1.0, Google. Oh well -- enjoy your secret handshakes while
they last.

I suspect that we may be nearing the tipping point with regards to the public's acceptance of Google's dominance. Through my work I hear of various projects which will crack open the Google black box. They are still in stealth mode and I don't know what their estimated launch dates are. However, it's a case of the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned.

Comments

[Andre]

Funny how they went from being a benign little search engine that just returned more relevant results to becoming big brother and a company vastly more evil than Microsoft.

Just wait until you are in court one day and lawyers start bringing up your google search history to use against you.

[Andre]

BTW, just saw a Digg link this morning to an article explaining how GOOG archives all of your searches if you are logged in while conducting them. I never search while logged into my G account.

[.]

Why do they permanently archive every single search you do?

Google street view is another scary thing that can spy on who is doing what.

A unique cookie on your machine that never expires so they can identify you and your searching habits?

It's all bad news.

[Frank]

Peter,

The Robber barons book is one of the best history books I have read in years. I couldn't put it down. Anyone interested in strategy should treat it as a must read.

[Robert]

"Through my work I hear of various projects which will crack open the Google black box."

As an investor is there anyway I could find out more about these? I believe that you can see my email address and will also send you an email.

[anon]

Google Knows All, Or Close Enough To Raise Concerns
July 16, 2007: 08:05 PM EST

Jul. 16, 2007 (Investor's Business Daily) --

So you read a controversial newsletter, flirt within your social circle, buy stress medication and plan to sue the city -- Google knows.

You don't fiddle with extra privacy settings, so the newsletter's in your Gmail inbox, your messages on Google social site Orkut are logged, Google Checkout has your address and drug order, Google Maps recalls sending directions to the lawyer's office to your mobile phone.

Nothing keeps the world's top search giant from putting all that data on you in one fat dossier, either. It could add what you've searched for, deduced from the Internet protocol address your PC uses. And Google wants to know more. Personalization is key to expansion plans.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-18174878.htm

[anon]

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/
IBD-0001-18174878.htm

Sorry about the bad link above. You will need to graft the two halves in thsi post into your browser address box.

[Danny Brodeur]

These guys are working on a new Search engine.
www.irazoo.com
http://www.irazoo.com/cachedpages/irazoo_houston_chronicle.html

[Joe]

Google is good at what they do. So they do it until somebody else comes along who the consumers desire to buy from more for some reason.

We're just waiting for the next college dropout making a computer business out of his garage

[Jesse]

It's amazing how Google uses search to make its acquisitions, isn't it?
http://fishtrain.com/2007/09/13/googles-acquisition-strategy/