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Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

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Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#41

Post by raverbashing »

tyingq wrote: post #2

There's a number of things that have happened in the organic search area of Google that seem to suggest a declining interest in quality organic results. There's Matt Cutts' long leave of absence, his departure, and the announcement that he's not really being replaced. A much lower volume of communication from Google on initiatives in the space (they used to talk endlessly about Panda, Penguin, etc). Amit's original r…

I'd add another item

c) "Search" is changing towards giving information rather than to websites.

Think Siri/Cortana/Alexa. Even Google tries to give you an answer rather than a website.

Also information is moving from "spread thin" websites to social graphs and more centralised locations

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#42

Post by r00fus »

grandalf wrote: post #29
cm2012 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are really worried about their contractors being classified as employees. That would be an existential threat.

I know that is Uber's view, I think it's mistaken and unsustainable. The lack of a sustainable policy is what creates the existential risk.

Sustainability and big-bang VC startups seem to be mutually exclusive.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#43

Post by tyingq »

forgetsusername wrote: post #21
tyingq wrote: post #2

There's a number of things that have happened in the organic search area of Google that seem to suggest a declining interest in quality organic results. There's Matt Cutts' long leave of absence, his departure, and the announcement that he's not really being replaced. A much lower volume of communication from Google on initiatives in the space (they used to talk endlessly about Panda, Penguin, etc). Amit's original r…

> The marketshare battle is done. Google won. No competition Is there an analog to this? Is there another market where marketshare has "been decided"? My instinct tells me that companies who fall for this are in trouble.

Desktop and server processors, and desktop operating systems.... Microsoft and Intel. Somewhat similar in that the platform itself is not growing as it once was, though still large...and that innovation has slowed.

Edit: Yes, mobile is hitting desktop, but that's the market itself changing...not the market share for desktop. Comparable in the search space is more people using Amazon directly for product searches versus starting with Google. Related markets and effects, but Amazon isn't a general search competitor.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#44

Post by dajohnson89 »

raverbashing wrote: post #41
tyingq wrote: post #2

There's a number of things that have happened in the organic search area of Google that seem to suggest a declining interest in quality organic results. There's Matt Cutts' long leave of absence, his departure, and the announcement that he's not really being replaced. A much lower volume of communication from Google on initiatives in the space (they used to talk endlessly about Panda, Penguin, etc). Amit's original r…

I'd add another item c) "Search" is changing towards giving information rather than to websites. Think Siri/Cortana/Alexa. Even Google tries to give you an answer rather than a website. Also information is moving from "spread thin" websites to social graphs and more centralised locations

Indeed. Information concentrates, just like capital.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#46

Post by coss »

oculusthrift wrote: post #5

I'm really confused on what to think about Uber. My personal thinking/logic is really bearish on them, similar to the post on the front page yesterday [1]. However, I keep seeing extremely smart/accomplished people joining it which makes me second guess my intuition. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437414

Follow the money.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#47

Post by neosat »

maverick_iceman wrote: post #26
oculusthrift wrote: post #5

I'm really confused on what to think about Uber. My personal thinking/logic is really bearish on them, similar to the post on the front page yesterday [1]. However, I keep seeing extremely smart/accomplished people joining it which makes me second guess my intuition. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437414

I think self-driving cars would be a major challenge for Uber. As long as ridesharing companies need human drivers network effects ensure that Uber will remain at the top. But when driverless cars become feasible Uber's moat disappears. What's stopping an upstart company to buy/lease 10,000 self-driving cars and let them loose on the street? There's no reason for customers to prefer Uber over them. (This problem beco…

"What's stopping an upstart company to buy/lease 10,000 self-driving cars and let them loose on the street?"

You're right that self-driving cars would be a major challenge/opportunity. Re: what's stopping an upstart, letting self-driving cars loose on the street is inefficient. There is a huge amount learned/accrued intelligence involved in how those self driving cars are orchestrated for optimize the marketplace. So that's where a key capability is going to be important even in a world where self-driving is commoditized.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#48

Post by sib »

withdavidli wrote: post #38
oculusthrift wrote: post #5

I'm really confused on what to think about Uber. My personal thinking/logic is really bearish on them, similar to the post on the front page yesterday [1]. However, I keep seeing extremely smart/accomplished people joining it which makes me second guess my intuition. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437414

Because a person is smart/ accomplished in their domain does not mean they will be in another. In this instance, people that are technology geniuses, doesn't mean they know about liquidation preferences and accounting.

Alternately, people who are technology geniuses and also were employee #176 at Google may not need to care about liquidation preferences and may just want to work on new and different interesting problems.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#49

Post by snovv_crash »

kchoudhu wrote: post #11
geodel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hope so. I guess last exodus was in 2012 when top people like Marissa Mayer and her reports got poached.

> Marissa Mayer and her reports got poached Looks like Google dodged a bullet there.

Dunno, I think Yahoo! was basically unfixable. I mean, what would you have done differently? They just had too much dead wood, including the brand name.

Re: Uber Hires Former Google Search Chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering

#50

Post by GauntletWizard »

tyingq wrote: post #43
forgetsusername wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The marketshare battle is done. Google won. No competition Is there an analog to this? Is there another market where marketshare has "been decided"? My instinct tells me that companies who fall for this are in trouble.

Desktop and server processors, and desktop operating systems.... Microsoft and Intel. Somewhat similar in that the platform itself is not growing as it once was, though still large...and that innovation has slowed. Edit: Yes, mobile is hitting desktop, but that's the market itself changing...not the market share for desktop. Comparable in the search space is more people using Amazon directly for product searches vers…

Microsoft is rapidly losing the entire market of "Desktop" to Android and iOS apps. Intel has a serious competitor in ARM; most $bigcos haven't switched yet, but are definitely looking into it, as a way of applying pressure and keeping Intel's costs down.
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