I am blown away by some of the stuff Google puts out, I can only imagine what their internal technologies and tools must look like. To me, that more than anything validates their approach to hiring, development and business strategy, of which I would otherwise be very sceptical. I'd never get hired at Google, and rightly so; I look at some of their stuff and know that I could never do that. I used to think (not witho…
I think that you can. To date, Google really only has one successful product (success meaning "makes money for Google") and that's Ad-sense. Sure it's wildly successful. But if that stopped making money for Google tomorrow (for example, I automatically mentally filter out all advertisements in my search results, how long before everybody does that), what would their revenue and profitability picture look like? In alm…
Things I've learned at Google so far
151–160 of 197 posts
Re: Things I've learned at Google so far
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
I dunno about others but when I read it sounded a little arrogant. For example, I have a Mensa gold certificate saying that I scored in the top 0.5% percentile on a test (actual IQ scores vary based on the type of test but mine was 143.5). Sounds pretty arrogant, eh? Generally any statement that equates to "I am intelligent" gets taken this way.
Any sentence containing the word "Mensa" is arrogant.
If there are any Mensa members reading this, you really need to update your website if you want to be taken seriously. OnMouseOver/OnMouseOut makes it look like you're stuck in 1998.
Re: Things I've learned at Google so far
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was at Google in 2007, here's my take on it. The people that are working there aren't just the most brilliant in the world, they literally invented a good portion of the internet, computers, computer science, and programming as we know it. They have "the father of the internet" (Vint Cerf), the creator of Vim (Moolenaar), the creator of Python (Guido), the lead developer of Firefox (Goodger), several of the lead Li…
Sounds pretty great. If it's not too personal a question, why did you decide to leave?
All that brilliant work, will just end up making Sergey and Larry even more rich.
Google seems like a great enviroment to learn, but at some point reality bites. Your 130k salary wont buy even a decent two bedroom around mountain view.
1 You either have a wife that makes 6figs, so with a combined salary can afford a two-three bedroom house, + schooling for kids. 2. Try to make it big. That at google aint gonna happen. Maybe you will get an extra 30k, for your extra work, but that's it. In comparison, a 7th year lawyer in a top firm, makes easy 260-300k.
Re: Things I've learned at Google so far
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that you can. To date, Google really only has one successful product (success meaning "makes money for Google") and that's Ad-sense. Sure it's wildly successful. But if that stopped making money for Google tomorrow (for example, I automatically mentally filter out all advertisements in my search results, how long before everybody does that), what would their revenue and profitability picture look like? In alm…
How sure are you on Ads being the only money-spinner? Have you seen Google Apps for business with over 2 million users? The Google Search Appliance? http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html http://www.google.com/enterprise/search/gsa.html
Doing some quick arithmetic gives me about $200 million left over from all other products and services combined.
Google Apps for business accounts for around $100 million of that (2 million users * $50/yr), which means that really, all other products in Google make up around $100 million dollars/year. I'm willing to wager that a very significant chunk of that remaining $100mil comes from Google Earth geospatial servers for the military and the rest going to the appliances (which surprisingly are not the big hit everybody thought they would be, the appliances should be a multi-billion/yr business unit alone, what went wrong?).
Now, $200+ million is nothing to sneeze at, but we wouldn't talk about Google with such hushed, excited, reverence if they were a $100 or $200 million/yr company, would we? Salesforce.com, which basically sells one thing, just did a Billion dollar year. We also have no idea if those figures represent profit or not. Google docs for example runs on the same multi-billion dollar infrastructure as does search...would it be nearly as compelling of a service if it really had to pay for itself?
We all conflate their great technology with their market success, but really Google is just a really good advertising conduit that just so happens to have really good technology -- their other technology is not impactful in nearly the same way monetarily to them.
By way of comparison, Google is about the same revenue-size as the top-5 advertising agencies.
But Google's actual technology business is about the size of ClickSoftware Technologies(NASDAQ:CKSW) -- and I don't recall seeing lots of posts on any tech site about their offerings.
None of this is any great mystery. The numbers are out there and it's easy to make some educated guesses. Google knows this too, which is why they are rapidly trying to diversify into other areas. For example, Google Docs was a $0/yr business not that long ago -- I wish I could turn a switch and grow something into a $100mil/yr operation in a couple of years.
On the other hand, if we look at Microsoft, they aren't even interested in an idea unless it has at least a billion/yr revenue opportunity attached to it. So many of the things that Google is doing now, to build up to, and exceed, that kind of revenue target, would never have happened at Microsoft -- and there's something to be said about that.
Re: Things I've learned at Google so far
#155I am blown away by some of the stuff Google puts out, I can only imagine what their internal technologies and tools must look like. To me, that more than anything validates their approach to hiring, development and business strategy, of which I would otherwise be very sceptical. I'd never get hired at Google, and rightly so; I look at some of their stuff and know that I could never do that. I used to think (not witho…
I think that you can. To date, Google really only has one successful product (success meaning "makes money for Google") and that's Ad-sense. Sure it's wildly successful. But if that stopped making money for Google tomorrow (for example, I automatically mentally filter out all advertisements in my search results, how long before everybody does that), what would their revenue and profitability picture look like? In alm…
Gmail, Google Enterprise, Google Docs, Google Apps, Google Checkout, Google Earth, Google Maps -- these would all be highly interesting startups, some of them profitable, were they not inside Google. As it is, now they are more part of Google's long-term strategic plans.
Re: Things I've learned at Google so far
#156Hi there. I was a Noogler in 2005 or so, but it sounds like things haven't changed much, at least on that side. Regarding the stuff you're not supposed to talk about, there are three stages: 1. Amazement at how it all works; wanting to go run and tell all your friends. 2. Fear that talking about Google's advantages would undermine the company (or your position in it) 3. Recognition that nobody would believe you anywa…
#1 sounds very familiar to me. :-) I hope I never reach #3. That sounds like I'd become a kind of person I don't like being.
It's just a matter of psychology. You still have friends outside the company... but you can't talk about what you're doing. You can't even talk about the perks without becoming deeply annoying. You can't talk about the scale without giving away competitive information, or sounding like you're bragging. So at some level, when it comes to your work life, you start putting up a mask to everyone else, and your only true confidants have to be other Googlers.
Re: Things I've learned at Google so far
#157Re: Things I've learned at Google so far
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having read this article, numerous other articles, heard from Google Employees in large and small settings, and knowing a few Google Interns, I can say one thing with absolute confidence. Google Engineers know that they're the best engineers, ever. I've always found it offputting, but maybe I'm just jealous or something. edit: Worth adding that this is a common thing among many engineers. Also, I know and like a numb…
That can't be right... because I /know/ that games programmers are the best engineers, and Google doesn't make games... ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Lively
Ok, that's a bit harsh perhaps. In its favor it was a decent idea to merge social gaming and the web, perhaps a bit ahead of its time. I could easily see 3D elements as commonplace on the web in 2012 or so.
And then there's:
http://images.google.com/imagelabeler/
Which is the same concept as Luis von Ahn's ESP Game, only Googlified and drained of any interface elements that would make the thing actually fun.
Re: Things I've learned at Google so far
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
How sure are you on Ads being the only money-spinner? Have you seen Google Apps for business with over 2 million users? The Google Search Appliance? http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html http://www.google.com/enterprise/search/gsa.html
99% of Google's reported revenue comes from search (or rather advertising programs) according to their 2008 company report (I know a little outdated, the number is probably a bit different now but I can't be bothered to look it up, I'd guess still pretty north of 90%). Doing some quick arithmetic gives me about $200 million left over from all other products and services combined. Google Apps for business accounts for…
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/google-planning-sto...