The Google Chronicles: Will Chaos Overtake the Search Champion?
In the wake of Fortune's article on the world inside Google and The Register's subsequent spin of the article, it's starting to be a question as to whether the current champion of content search will be already beyond its peak by the time it gets around to its IPO next year - just in time for its portal rivals to be introducing more powerful search technology into their product offerings. Google has assembled a brilliant team of fresh-from-school technologists to assemble its capabilities more quickly and efficiently than any of its rivals, but in doing so the human lessons of creating content for service-oriented audiences that are learned the hard way in the "real world" of business are going neglected in many key areas. While user-friendly features on top of mediocre search results are not likely to pose a major threat to Google's dominance, the team in Mountain View should think a little more carefully about how to personalize their content culture and bring service dominance in line with their technical dominance - before more service-savvy competitors figure out the technology side of the business.