The Google Story - Book Report/Review Example

The Google Story: A Review Vise, David A., and Mark Malseed. The Google Story. Westminster, MD: Dell Publishing, 2005. Every once in a lifetime a company creates a product so distinctive that it becomes a mainstay of the American vocabulary. Kleenex became a noun that meant tissue. Xerox became the synonym for copying. In this lifetime we have Google. Anyone who is anybody has, or will one day, be 'Googled'. Everyone instantly knows what the verb means. Authors David Vise and Mark Malseed tell the rags to riches story of the most meteoric rise of any company in business history. The Google Story is a fascinating ride behind the scenes and into the economic, technical, social, and legal battlefields that the war for a better search engine was fought on. The Google Story is more than just the history of a successful company; it is a story about two college kids with a vision that held to their principles to become the rulers of the dot-com mountain. The book covers 7 short years that encompassed the dot-com boom, the dot-com bust, and the new dot-com reality. During this period of Internet infancy, companies were rising and failing on a daily basis. Investors were overwhelmed by opportunities and under-impressed by a lack of results. The financial markets had gained a lukewarm attitude about these gee-whiz technologies and some had developed a "healthy skepticism for fancy PowerPoint presentations that wowed others" (46). Still, Google not only persisted they grew at a phenomenal rate. They shunned advertising and investors from the beginning and went head to head with technical giants such as Microsoft, AltaVista, and Yahoo. Eventually, the technology got too expensive for the ex-Stanford students to support and when the investors were let in, they were pleasantly shocked by what they found. The authors, Vise and Malseed, were both journalists who had been reporters and researchers at the Washington Post. Vice's accolades include a 1990 Pulitzer Prize and a 1990 Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. Malseed was a researcher for Bob Woodward and had collaborated on several New York Times nonfiction bestsellers. True to their journalism roots, the book remains factual and the authors have no social or political ax to grind. They make ample use of interesting quotes and accurately place the people in time and space. Though the book reads as a succession of topics presented in chronological order, it does contain the elements of a good novel. It tells the fairy tale story of the little guy that works hard to conquer all his adversaries by sticking to his principles and values. It has the protagonists, intrigue, suspense, and as with any good book the door is left open for a sequel. The Google Story is a tale that has only just begun. Vise and Malseed set the tone for the book with the opening paragraph. They write, "Not since Gutenberg invented the modern printing press more than 500 years ago, making books and scientific tomes affordable and widely available to the masses, has any new invention empowered individuals, and transformed access to information, as profoundly as Google" (1). Yet, just 8 years earlier Sergey Brin and Larry Page, founders of Google, had been PhD students at Stanford University in computer science. While working at Stanford they became dissatisfied with the existing Internet search engines and began their research into Google. In 1998, the pair took a leave from the Stanford program to pursue their Google dream. A year later they were in desperate need of cash and had been offered $25 million by what they considered "vulture capitalists" (67). Without even a business plan Brin and Page agreed to take the deal on one condition; they would delay hiring a chief executive for well into the future and not ever hire anyone they would have to report to (68). With the $25 million dollars secured, the next question loomed on their horizon. "The mystery remained: how did Google plan on making money" (69) In 1998, Google was still in beta test mode. Brin and Page were fiercely in favor of a free search engine that was unaffected by advertising dollars. However, by 1999 they understood the necessity of making money. Brin remarked, "We are about money and profits. Banners are not working and click-through rates are falling. I think highly focused ads are the answer" (87). This moral dilemma haunted the pair and as Vise and Malseed report, "The newly emerging business strategy was simple: continue to produce free search results, and profit by selling ads. The key was to make it clear they wouldn't bias the search results" (88). This would be the mantra that has continued to guide Google and by the end of 1999 they were averaging 7 million searches a day (85). As Google was gaining momentum, they were also attracting some criticism. An article in the December 2000 issue of Business Week was titled "Will Google's Purity Pay Off". Competitors remarked that no company focused strictly on search could ever support themselves. "...people wondered aloud whether Google could survive by focusing on search and users more than on money" (91). Brin and Page held fast to their philosophy of basing the search results on quality and not the price that advertisers were willing to pay. The spirit of innovation and individualism that Brin and Page bring to Google is reflected throughout their history and their organization. The Googleplex is the corporate center that houses the engineering and development staff as well as the world's most massive computer network. It's here that mathematicians and technologists work in an environment of "...brightly colored medicine balls, lava lamps, and assorted gadgets and toys here and there- gave the business the appeal of a vibrant college campus. All of this, they believed, would pay off handsomely in the long run" (94). It's in these surroundings that the litany of Google creations and inventions begin their genesis. One of the innovations that has been a mainstay at Google is the 20% rule. Employees are requested to spend 20% of their workweek on any project they want to. Krishna Bharat, founder of the Google research group, says. "The 20 percent time was invented for people to just explore... People are productive when they are working on things they see as important or they have invented, or are working on something they are passionate about" (132). This attitude has given rise to everything from Google Underwear to G-mail. With each new innovation released by Google, the legal and social consequences have increased and the controversy has swelled. G-mail was originally designed to eliminate the old 4 megabyte limit and stretch it to over 2 gigabytes. Google also planned to run targeted ads that used the e-mail content to determine the ad content. As Vise and Malseed report, "As word spread of Google's plans to put ads in emails, politicians and privacy groups attacked the company and its plans, kicking off a media firestorm" (156,157). However, Google's reputation and their reluctance to respond to what they perceived as "crazed critics" would win the hearts and minds of friendly columnists and users around the world (159). They would use this same tactic when Google Book was faced with the threat of copyright infringement. Google book was faced with extraordinary technical obstacles in an effort to get millions of books digitized. Their initial project was to digitize the Harvard Library. The Harvard Corporation, the University's governing body, "...wanted reassurances that the university wouldn't be hit with lawsuits for violating copyrights, or incur heavy costs" (232). Google was able to enlist the cooperation of several major libraries as well as publishers to offer complete views of some books and limited views of others accompanied by links to booksellers (237,238). Google continues to grow and innovate at an extraordinary rate. It is available in over 100 languages and has dedicated sections for scholars, images, weather, news, and satellite imagery. Yet, we may have only seen the tip of the Google iceberg. They are currently working on mapping the human genome. According to Stanford President John Hennessy, "You want to be able to use a search system that is content-dependent, with the genome and structure of DNA already built in. It is one of many potential areas where you can see this so-called 'intelligent search' making a big difference" (283). Google has reached beyond their modest beginnings to revolutionize our way of life. As a good book to read for some interesting portrayals of the characters in the history of Google, The Google Story hits the mark. It isn't weighted down with excessive technical jargon, but gives just enough to give the reader an understanding of the issues involved with intelligent searching. Moreover, it gives the reader a sense of the philosophical control that Brin and Page have been able to maintain over their once fledgling idea. Its inspiration is derived from the fact that even amidst the billions of dollars at stake, the founders have maintained their integrity. That's the real story behind Google and that's the story that Vice and Malseed tell. At the end of the day, the Google story has just begun. The author's have left the door open for a sequel and we may expect to see one someday. The founders of Google are still in search of the perfect search engine. "The ultimate search engine," says Page, "would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want" (282). We may not be there yet, but with the power of the Googleplex and the persistence of Brin and Page we have taken some major steps in the right direction. Read More