Has Google Hit The Tough Terrain?

Only few companies have been able to match Googles phenomenal success in tech industry. The Internet giant saw a break through in 2003 and reached its peak when it went public in 2004.

Soon it became the darling of Silicon Valley gradually eroding all its competitors. Google just seemed perfect company that can commit no mistakes. Its innovations in search technology made it No.1 in search engine.

If one revises the journey of Google, he will know the founders- Larry Page and Sergey Brin- extraordinary vision & brilliance.

Now, it seems Google is losing its sheen. It is facing fierce competition in all of its major markets, even as it enters new ones.

Google, once a knight in shining armour is now facing a tough road ahead courtesy various lawsuits, futile initiatives and over-reliance on advertisers.

Money matters

Last year, Google posted $29.3 billion in revenue, and it's hoping to earn even more in 2011. The company garners whopping 97 percent of income from a rather more mundane source: advertising. Its good thing but keeping aside advertising revenue, the company incurred just $1.2 billion from all non-advertising sources combined.

This restrains Googles reach into markets that provide fewer advertising opportunities. So far the subscription fees Google acquired last year were just a minute fraction of the $18.6 billion.

Privacy: Top priority

Googles over dependence on ad business created trouble for its loyal customer base. It intercepted on users emails in the interest of advertisers.

In 2010, its email service faced criticism, when Google started pulling out Gmail users' personal data for its Google Buzz social network without their approval.

The company itself agreed that it had involuntarily interrupted emails and passwords as part of a Wi-Fi mapping project.

Futile ventures

Google which has grown exponentially every year in terms of revenues and resources it is expected to be having big innovations coming out every year. But, it is rightly said that excess of anything is bad even if it is ideas. Google is jumping into every market including mobile phones, e-books, web browsers etc leaving some of its initiatives in cold.

It called off many of its initiatives including Google Wave, a much-hyped messaging tool; Realtime Search, an aggregator of up-to-the-minute information from Twitter and other social networks; Google Health, an effort to launch electronic medical records and many more.

Lawsuits attack

Almost all tech majors are attacking Google with various lawsuits to gain competitive edge, particularly in the booming market of smartphones. Recently, Googles top legal officer David Drummond slammed Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle for pursuing bogus patent claims against Android operating system.

Google believes the patent attack as a way to make sure that Android won't be available free to handset makers.

With all these aforementioned factors going against Google, one thing is certain that the road ahead for the Internet giant is not going to be smooth. Facebook has become the new pet of Silicon Valley. However, Google has launched Google+ -its own social network- to counter Facebook but its fate is yet to be seen.

All the best for Google!