I was reading this C|Net article which talked a little bit about Google’s plan to raise $4 Billion by selling stock.
The article then briefly talks about the Google Desktop Search 2.0 (Beta) that was released yesterday, and then makes another statement.
Google executives say they plan to unveil Wednesday a “communications tool” that is potentially a clear step beyond the company’s search-related business focus.While executives would not disclose what the new software tool might be, Google has long been expected to introduce an instant-messaging service to compete with services offered by America Online, Yahoo and MSN from Microsoft.
I posted about this over at OverclockersClub.com, where several people stated ideas along the lines of it’d be cool if a Google IM was like Trillian or GAIM.
Here are my thoughts on that…
Two major things here…. First off, Google like any other company is out to make money. Secondly, Google would be a competitor to AIM, ICQ, YIM, MSN, etc. It wouldn’t make a lot of since for Google to include competitor’s programs or technologies in their own software. That’d be like Microsoft including Mozilla Firefox or Opera with the next version of Windows.
Now, Google has a long history of releasing APIs and SDKs for developers to create their own plugins, modules, and standalone applications that work with Google’s own products. You can see a list of all that here.
I wouldn’t expect a Google IM to include a plugin for AIM, ICQ, etc by default, but I could see Google allowing people to write a plugin that would do it.
Another reason I wouldn’t see Google doing that is that in the past AOL, Yahoo, and Microsoft haven’t taken kindly to other clients connecting to their services. Trillian and GAIM have both fought a long hard battle with trying to keep up with the network blocking, protocol changes, and other attempts by the companies to block third party programs. Much of that has died down lately, but could easily pick back up if a Google IM was released.
That’s just my thoughts on that whole aspect. We’ll see if I’m right or wrong if a Google IM is ever released. Remember, we don’t know exactly what Google will be releasing tomorrow. Hell it could be VoIP or something completely different.
Another thought I had on a possible Google IM, would be Google’s method for making money off of it. As we all know, Google makes most of their money off of advertisements, and I’d highly expect a Google IM to have some kind of banner integrated into it. This is nothing new to IM clients, as AIM/ICQ and even XFire have ads to help generate revenue, and I assume YIM and MSN do as well. – I haven’t used the official clients for any program in years. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Would it be like the ads on GMail and scan your conversations and deliver ads based on what’s being discussed? Would it be in the form of a traditional banner, or perhaps change one of your words into a text ad link? Anyone who currently uses Trillian Pro will probably remember the Wikipedia link “feature”, that’s along the lines of what I’m thinking Google would do. A combination of both would also be likely.
GDS2 included a new sidebar feature, that can help add additional speculation. Is this sidebar the stepping stone for an IM client, Google Desktop Replacement, Google Browser, or something else? Maybe it’s just a cool little new toy and nothing more.
Lots of speculation, little facts, and big ideas. Truth is, no one knows what Google is going to do except for Google, and they rarely tell and secrets. Google IM or something else, I’m sure whatever is released tomorrow will be interesting.
Ok. Now that I’ve rambled on for two pages about a possible Google IM, let’s go back to that C|Net article. The main question it asked was, “Where will Google spend its extra $4 billion?”
I’ve had my own thoughts on who Google should buy. Probably just wild ideas and wishful thinking, but logical to me. $4 Billion is still a lot of play money.
Google really doesn’t have to buy anyone, with that wad of cash, they could easily expand their own systems, services, and technology. Though the acquisition of other companies can also help them branch out into new areas and markets. They’ve shown time and time again that they have no problem buying other companies (Blogger, Keyhole, Android, Picasa, Deja Archive, Dodgeball, Applied Semantics, and others).
Here are some more ideas of companies Google could buy…
- GoDaddy – GoDaddy is probably the single most popular domain registration service out there. Huge customer base, and a sure way to bring in an additional income outside of the advertisement market. Let’s not forget that Google is an ICANN-Accredited Registrar. Also, what better way for Google to index sites that to be the company that host the sites to begin with? There are several other reasons why this could be good for Google.
- A CMS System – I’m not going to specify anyone in particular. This could be e107, PHPNuke, PostNuke, or something else. Google really needs to work more on Blogger, as it is very lacking in features when compared to other “blog” services. The integration of a CMS would allow Blogger.com to offer more than just a plain page, it could become a full featured personal website. Something that could really take on Geocities, Fortunecity, and other places. Even if users had to pay an additional charge to use a Blogger CMS, it’d be well worth it. Imagine this combined with the above idea. A person would register a domain and hosting, and then boom, the site is ready to go.
- SearchIRC.com – Remember, Google is a search company. But there are still areas that Google doesn’t search, one big area is the IRC networks. SearchIRC.com has been around for a while, and AFAIK they are the only people that are really doing this kind of search. Web, News, Groups, Email, IRC. It makes since.
- Intellicast – You can type weather and a zip code into Google and get a basic forecast. Nothing spectacular, no radar, no maps, not really a lot of information. Imagine Google Maps/Earth with a Radar or Doppler overlay. Probably the least likely purchase of any, but it’d be nice to see something like this
- XFire – This would give Google an IM client, game browser, and more in one purchase. Google with the ability to track what games are being played, that’s a thought. Also, Google Video would probably work well with XFire’s existing game movie library. Though there are two problems. First, XFire is based on GAIM. Second, XFire is being sued by Yahoo.
- Grisoft – Picking up a company that has an excellent Antivirus and Firewall program could help Google conquer the desktop. Another thing that is nice about this is the already free version of AVG AntiVirus.
- Stardock – Yahoo! recently picked up Konfibulator. A buy like this would blow that away, because Google would pick up DesktopX, WinBlinds, CursorXP, BootSkin, and many other very popular applications for Windows.
Ok, so that is just my wishful thinking. 
Possible, but not probable.
Then again, Google doesn’t really have to buy anyone right now. They could just use the cash and better their current products. If you ever browse the Google Groups, you’ll see a lot of request for new features.
Personally I’d like to see some better integration of Google products. One example would be to combine the Google Desktop Search and Picasa into one program. Why the need to have to different programs, both of which I find excellent, indexing your computer? Combine the two things.
As everyone knows, I don’t use IE or Firefox. But the option (key word) to install the IE or Firefox toolbars while installing GDS would be nice.
The ability to use the GDS or GMail notifier with multiple accounts is also a very popular request, and one that I’d like to echo. Myself, I have 2 GMail accounts. One for family and one for everything else.
Google News tied to my Google Account. You can customize your Google Homepage and you can customize your Google News. The stupid thing is the Google Homepage is tied to your account, and will be the same whenever you log in. The customized Google News page is stuck in a cookie, and doesn’t follow you around from computer to computer. Umm… HELLO?
Speaking of Google accounts. It’d be nice if I didn’t have to have different usernames/passwords for GMail, Blogger, AdSense, and Okrut. Just a thought.
And probably the biggest request is Linux programs. Google is one of the largest Linux users, yet we have nothing really of any value for the Linux OS. What’s up with that?
Ok, well that’s enough of that for now. We’ll see what Google comes out with tomorrow and how Google spends the cash.
There is an old saying in the business world that says “you have to spend money to make money.” Clearly, Google has plans to do that.
