Be afraid (of Google), Be very afraid……
Google’s obsession to be the number 1 web company and the world’s key source of information has taken to another stage with the launch of Google Buzz. With real-time search becoming a significant component of information, and that they even had to integrate Twitter results in their Google Search, they definitely had to own that piece of the pie.
There were so many rumors of Google wanting to buy Twitter (which was started by ex-Googlers and Google has a history of buying start-ups built by ex-staff) but the sale never happened, probably due to a ridiculous asking price. Some people may have forgot that they actually acquired Jaiku a couple of years ago that provided the same service. So it seems like Google’s new mantra is that “If you don’t sell me, we’ll built one, make use of our huge following, and crush you pieces”.
Google’s acquisition path in the social media area is starting to resemble that of Oracle’s in the enterprise IT side where they bought Peoplesoft, Siebel and most recently Sun. Perhaps as Google’s focus shifts even more to the enterprise web from the consumer web, they will start gobbling up web companies like CRM provider salesforce.com or ERP provider Compiere.
We’ll definitely have to wait and see how this fight against Twitter turns out and if David really gets to defeat Goliath.
