Introduction
Google is a company which started as a research project for two Ph. D students in 1996. Google is a company that was founded on September 4, 1998. This company was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin who were at that time students at the Stanford University. The company name was derived from a spelling error of the word “googol,” which means 10100.
This implies that Google is a search engine which is used by the internet users to locate information from the World Wide Web. The company’s headquarters are located in Mountain View, California. As a company, Google has grown rapidly since 1998.
This growth has provided the company with capital which has translated in remarkable expansion that has been observed. Currently, Google is a publicly held corporation. As per the records dated December 31, 2008, the company had full time employees totaling to 20,222.
The company’s initial public offering took place on august 24, 2004. This resulted in raising $ 1.67 billion, which implied that the company’s approximate stood at $23 billion. Currently, the company stands as one of the powerful and reputable brands across the globe. Today, this company continues to grow as it has been indicated by its growth in terms of stock.
Essentially, from an initial price of $100 per share, the share price grew to $500 in 2008. This company is ranked as one of the five most reputable sites on the web. In the US, the company is raked as number one, among other countries. Essentially, this company attracts over 40 million users every month. This company has grown as an advertising company. Essentially, the company generated revenues worth $16 billion in 2007.
Google leadership
Just like another organization, Google depends on its leadership to steer the company in the direction which is in line with the company’s vision and objectives. The top leadership is made up of a board of directors and executive officers. The board of directors is made up off the following members;
- Larry page
- Eric Schmidt
- Sergey Brin
- Doerr John
- Green Diane
- Hennerssy John
- Otellini Paul
- Shriram Ram
- Tilghman Shirley.
The executive officers is made up of
- Schmidt Eric
- Larry Page
- Sergey Brin
- Arora Nikesh
- Drummond David
- Pichette Patrick.
Google products and services
Google has established itself as a popular online search engine. Due to rapid technological advancement, the company has been forced to come up with new ideas regarding some of the services and projects that it offers. Essentially, Google has taken up an innovation approach which has evolved it into a software company which has gradually threatened the Microsoft dominance.
The company has quietly been launching products which have gained prominence in the information technology world. Some of the products that Google has successfully launched include desktop search; Gmail; software to manage, edit, and send digital photos; and programs for creating, editing and posting documents.
Google’s core business is the internet search engine. As a company, it has established several services which have been used by online users to get their work done. For instance, the Google groups is a service which enables the users to search newsgroups, while at the same time host mailing lists.
The company launched Google video in 2006 which offers the users to search as well as view video content online. In addition, this offers television companies to cast their shows on CBS, NBA music and games. Essentially, videos which are offered through this media are protected by Google’s digital management system which monitors operations on the Google site.
Google has also utilized the satellite technology to come up with Google maps which has enabled users to locate their direction anywhere on earth. This service has been accompanied by ad on devices which enable a user to be able to know exactly what happens within a given location for instance, crime rates or specific locations such as gas stations.
The Gmail service generates revenue through or by displaying advertisements. In summary, Google offers the following services, Froogle, Google answers, Google catalogues, Google groups, Google image search, Google labs, Google news, Google special searches, Google university search, Google web directory, Google web search and Google wireless.
The current position
Currently, Google is the search engine leader. Google has been ranked by bodies such as NPD to be the most effective search engine. Among other search engines.
- Google – approximately 150 million searches per day
- Inktomi – approximately 80 million searches per day
- Alta Vista – approximately 50 million searches per day
- Direct Hit – approximately 20 million searches per day
- Fast – approximately 12 million searches per day
- Galaxy – approximately 100, 000 visitors per day
Google has claimed that it has been able to attain its targets through utilizing a unique combination of software and hardware of advanced and superior technology. Currently Google plans to capture more users. This has been exhibited by ensuring that it has been able to penetrate other markets across the globe such as China. Essentially, Google indexes more than 60 languages on its pages.
Google SWOT analysis
A SWOT analysis is a technique which is used to establish the prospects and the potential threats of a company. In this case, SWOT analysis enables an organization to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that it faces. This enables the organization to be able to gain an understanding as to how it can place itself in the market. In the case of Google, the company has got the following strengths.
First, the Google search engine is readily accessible in most places across the globe. The speed of the search engine gives it an edge in the industry against other search engines.
In addition, it has been able to integrate several languages thus enabling users from diverse backgrounds to be able to use it. The strategy which the management has employed at the company has enabled the company to always come up with new projects which have gained market share with time.
Some of the weaknesses which Google has faced include the inability for a user to distinguish between good content and content that may not be good. This implies that the company has faced a major challenge when it comes to verifying the credibility of information that it gets. This has predisposed some of the products and information found to be subject to manipulation by the users.
In addition, despite the fact that the company has come up with many products many of them are not known by the users. Some of the opportunities which this company has include the fact that the technological boom has boosted the company’s ability to innovate.
Google’s ability to acquire other companies such as YOUTUBE has opened up more opportunities for it to explore. Furthermore, the company has a huge user base which enables it to get a market edge over other competitors.
Lastly the threats which are faced by this company include the fact that it faces stiff competition from other search engines like Yahoo and Bing. Furthermore, it has not been able to fully penetrate in other market areas such as Russia and China. Other emerging threats include the emerging trends which the company has to contend with. Recent new items
As a company which is in the information sector, Google has been working towards establishing links and coming up with new products and services to match the growing demand. From the 2011 financial review Google had outstanding revenue of $ 10.58 billion. The company has expanded its operations by opening new branches in other parts of the world in order to meet the rising demand on quality and innovative products.
As a consequence of opening up new markets, the company has increased its employee base. For instance, in Europe the employee base has grown up to 72 percent. Due to the company culture associated with Google, employees are required to commit 20 percent of their time in coming up with new products.
As a consequence of this, the company has been able to come up with better versions of services such as enhanced ability to get products on the mobile, the ability to translate texts from one language to another and the ability to obtain scholarly articles for the scholars who find it necessary to use Google.
Financial status
As a company, Google’s financial status is healthy. This is based on the increased revenue ever since it was listed as a corporate company. It is worth noting that Google has grown financially due to the rising demand of quality internet services.
This has bolstered its capacity to increase its revenue and come up with new services and products. The Google company incomes from 2002 to 2006 indicate a steady growth informs of a promising growth capacity.
References
Busby, M. (2003). Learn Google. Texas: Wordware Publishing, Inc.
Duthel, H. (2008). Google Inc. Services – Google Tools – What is Google? New York: Lulu.com.
Flamholtz, E., & Yvinne, R. (2011). Corporate Culture:The Ultimate Strategic Asset. California: Stanford University Press.
Stross, R. (2008). Planet Google:one company’s audacious plan to organize everything we know. New York: Simon and Schuster.