Tuesday, May 10, 2005 11:22 AM
A bit off topic, but is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the
Google Labs are rolling out new "beta" offerings with increasing frequency? And, perhaps more interestingly, there are rampant rumors and speculation as to databases (collections) which are being compiled on a variety of subjects.
I say interesting, because Google is well under way in quietly positioning itself as a competitor to a number of businesses that probably have no idea that Google could negatively impact their bottom line somewhere down the line.
Let's take a quick look at a few recent releases. There is no "killer app" here, but certainly a variety of interesting developments which make one pause and wonder where this is all heading:
- Google RideFinder -- this service lets you literally track taxi cabs and shuttles in major cities to check if one is nearing your location. When the day arrives where we (and the businesses we frequent) are all globally positioned (and interconnected) via our cellphones, what new revenue opportunities will emerge?
- Google Video - I'll let Google explain this one: "Our mission is to organize the world's information, and that includes the thousands of programs that play on our TVs every day. Google Video enables you to search a growing archive of televised content – everything from sports to dinosaur documentaries to news shows." Isn't this explanation pretty much TV Guide's business model (taken one step further)?
- Froogle Wireless - Search for products for your cellphone. Hmmm... Couldn't this offer instant comparison shopping? If I visit one store and get a price quote, couldn't I just bring up Froogle on my cellphone and see if a competitor store offers a better deal?
- In the rumor department, there is much speculation that Google is building a movie and television review collection that will allow users to tap a review from anywhere at anytime. Since newspaper readership is dropping anyway, what are the odds that the long-term future of movie reviews lies in a national database that can be tapped from any device at any time? And, the next question may be what other collections of information can be more efficiently distributed (and searched) via a nationwide service than myriad local publications producing their own content?
Does any of the above leave major businesses or industries shaking? Probably not yet. But, my own feeling is that among the broad new web-based service offerings, a trend is brewing wherein old guard business models are going to be quietly, slowly and surely taken apart by a host of "non-competitors" like Google.