Holy Matrimony

I am an unabashed fan of Google. Right from Google Desktop to Google Earth, I have sampled the entire buffet of products with mixed experiences but nonetheless with a sense of awe. They represent one of the ideal applications of mind - bringing innovation to everyday tasks.

However, the recent arrangement with Sun has puzzled me. On the one hand, Sun will allow the download of Google Toolbar alongwith the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), while Google has made vague references to helping distribute Sun OpenOffice. Like all great companies with fiercely loyal employees, Google is very secretive about its plans. Thus, to the public at large, it would seem like a tepid marketing arrangement in place.

Personally, I think this is a publicity ploy. More importantly, the vaguely stated plans are a decoy. Just as Toyota Qualis in India was a decoy to get Tata and Mahindra to spend like crazy in that segment. (Compare the Capital Employed by each company and the returns, and you'll see why). But if this is a decoy, then who or what is the Real McCoy? The answer, I think, lies in separate initiatives that Google is undertaking. After all, a secondary offering has helped them to nearly $ 4 Billion in cash.

One of the hints lies in Internet Access. Google is offering high - speed internet access to the entire city of San Francisco. Naturally, they deny that this is going to be replicated anywhere else. Yes, of course, and the $ 4 Billion was raised to be put into bank FDs. But if we consider this move for a moment, it allows Google further access to customers, and as a portal, continues to grow as a media giant - especially into video. Replication of this move will push Yahoo! out of the future top 3 as a media player and relegate Microsoft to number two.

But what has this to do with the Sun alliance? Everything. Consider a few random points:
a) JRE allows execution of simple Java applications on virtually any device, be it desktops or cell phones
b) OpenOffice, being a 70 MB+ installation file will require high-speed access to desktops to be of any use. Currently, it is no match for MS-Office, and is unlikely to be a match. However, it is free.....
c) Rumours are on that Google has multiple ongoing development activities aimed at mobile users in critical areas like payment gateways
d) Growth in international adoption by mass retail will not lie in desktops but in stripped down versions, delivered over hand-held devices. Over these devices will be delivered important information, like weather, crop prices etc. alongwith cheap Talk facilities
e) Machines can be shipped out with free OS (like RedHat) and installation of relevant productivity applications on the desktop can be outsourced to the customer, who merely requires an internet connection

In light of all this, it is a significant move that Scott McNealy and Eric Schmidt shared the podium. Steve Ballmer was quoted in the press as having vowed to kill Google, in reaction to several senior MS employees leaving to join Google. But the last thing he would want is severe pricing pressures on MS-Office, which contributed $ 11 Billion to the kitty last year alone and really is the funding source for loss-making X-Boxes, Longhorn / Vista and future expansions. Thus, Microsoft is on a world-wide campaign denouncing open-source software (as seen in some recent german ads).

So, who or what then, can stop Google? The answer would not lie in faster search engines but in the Holy Grail of Advertising - Pay per Sale. Realizing that would require software engineers, storage solution experts and human behaviour experts to collaborate. Until that happens, Google will pretty much hum along.

Not bad for Google, which is only an eight-year old company. There is enough to be said about beginning business from a lowly "PageRank" algorithm.