5 Reasons to Worry about Google

First, the disclosure.  I currently own 42 shares of Google stock. I used to have a bunch more I've been selling batches of it at five point intervals since it hit $310 and started falling. The stock has been very good to me, and I just love their story as the last truly great startup company (Firefox is not a company). But I've been liking the company less and less.  Little incidents keep happening that make me concerned that their stated intention to do no evil is getting reworked into do just a little bit here and there, and we can get away with it.

Here are five reasons that have made me love the company less, all in the last few months.

1. Miserable Blog.  I won't name it and I won't link to it, but the Google corporate blog serve no useful purpose other than curing insomnia. It is a selfish thing that only links to sites within Google, that only speaks about how great Google is, that doesn't allow comments and to me, connotes a company that is not interested in listening.
2. Banning CNET. Google won't include CNET in interviews, and briefings for one year .  It won't answer calls from CNET. CNET's sin was to demonstrate that Google can reveal too much about our personal privacy, it published personal information on Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who apparently the online news service from publishing about about him information that Google provides about the rest of us. Dan Gillmor dismisses the incident as the company's immaturity. This company is a major league player. Eric Schmidt has been a tech industry executive for at least 25 years. Gillmor would have been harsher had Microsoft pulled a heavy-handed play such as this.
3. Favoring Advertisers. I could not find a link to this, but a few months back, the company stated that it needed to better serve its advertisers better and would soon start beta testing ads that contained graphics that advertisers thought were effective. This would be no big deal for other companies.  But Google invents ads that were quiet enough so as not to offend customers.  It was essential to their rise in its almost unprecedented levels of admiration for a tech company. Now that it has that position, and claims it will do no evil, it seems me to be inching in the direction of doing just a tad of it.
4. IPO stock price. The stock performance has been so legendary, that we often forget claimed to be set up for the little guy and came out of the gate at $85.  This disturbed me for only one reason.  They had devised this unique Dutch Auction system supposedly to help the little guy, the individual investors who always get shut out of sexy IPOs. $85 bucks a share is not exactly an easy price for a great many so-called "little guys," who ended up as shut out of this IPO as any.
5. Creeping Mediocrity.  Is it just me or has everything Google launched since Froogle been tepidly mediocre?  Has wealth dulled the creative genius, now that they have they resources to attract so much of it?

Don't get me wrong.  The company has an awesome record and has changed how people use computers.  Changed it for the better.  But their apparent creeping arrogance disturbs me. I fear that the things that made Google a great company are all behind them.

Please say it isn't so, Sergey.

Comments

[Rob Greenlee]

I think you are on to something with your observations of Google. Some of your concerns are the same ones that many had about Google prior to the IPO.

Prior to the IPO they had incentive to work hard to get to the IPO and get rich. Tell me now what is causing them to dig deep and work hard to be innovative now? Same thing has happened to Microsoft and most of the other tech IPO's. The only big exceptions that exist today is Yahoo and Apple who seem to have come through this IPO period with motivation to innovate and not just coast as we are seeing Google do today.

Look for the stock to start slipping over the next year or so. The we shall see what kind of heart the company has to make a comeback.

Rob Greenlee
WebTalk Radio
http://www.webtalkradio.com

[Toby Getsch]

I think that there is a bit too much criticism of many "successful" companies. We're all guilty of it. Google does the good stuff you mention. And, the people who work there are human. If somone gets a little pissed that they got too much personal info "published" -- I don't blame them. Finding something on Google is a good bit different than publishing it and linking to it separately.

Now, having said that, I think I'd probably do the same thing. I also think I'd probabaly be banned for a year too - if I was big enough to matter to Google. Kudos to CNET.

~Toby

[Jonathan]

I thought google Maps was far from "tepidly mediocre" and is my favorite implementation of street mapping software to date.

[shel Israel]

Jonathan,

My apologies. I overlooked Google Maps which is a superb implementation. But I still think the point is valid. Google has come up with a lot of tepid stuff and I was among thos who hoped they would be consistently remarkable in what they brought to market.

[Jack Nork - The Mason Technologist]

Shel;
I agree that Google should be more open with their communications, but I have to disagree on them releasing mediocre products since the IPO.

Here's a few that I use most every day:

- Google earth
- Google Desktop
- gmail
- Saved Search History

I wish I had 42 shares of Google Stock :)