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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

#81

Post by shostack »

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

Which makes me wonder what search network ads look like in a hypothetical world in not so distant future if audio interfaces were primary search tool and output for the results.

Personally, at this point I'd rather pay Google a monthly subscription and get everything ad-free. That would align their interests with their users who would then be the customers vs the product and free up Google to do what is best for them in cases where ads may not make sense.

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

#82

Post by kinkrtyavimoodh »

klausa wrote: post #77
cryptozeus wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have same feeling, one my friend worked at a flywheel (uber but with taxi cabs)...he said that uber dominates this industry. They have figured out the biggest obstacle which is government regulations. This is the big challenge for any startup trying to copy uber.

I wouldn't call "knowingly breaking the law and throwing VC money at the lawyers until the problem goes away" necessarily "figuring out government regulations".

It's the same thing for practical purposes if it achieves the same aim.

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

#83

Post by pyrophane »

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 don't know all that much about Mr. Singhal, so I have no idea if this may be true in his case, but I suspect that great engineers are frequently not the best judges of a company's prospects, especially when there are numerous factors other than the strength of their technology that will determine how they perform.

With respect to Uber, regardless of anything else, they have lots of cash with which to compensate key hires, and plenty of interesting problems to work on. That might be enough.

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

#84

Post by tyingq »

congerous wrote: post #79
tyingq wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Google doesn't care about organic results any more. That's BS, frankly. Do they care less than they used to, though? Their placement on the screen as opposed to KG, widgets, and ads..and how that's progressed over time, seems to imply it.

> Do they care less than they used to, though? That's impossible to measure, but the arguments you have employed regarding personnel changes do not demonstrate your point.

Okay...the top two publicly visible leaders in the space leaving in the same timeframe could mean something. Perhaps in this case it does not. I don't think either of us knows for sure. It does, however, pique my interest in what the group direction is now.

What of the decision to not replace Matt with a specific role or person? Is that not interesting?

And, again, I mentioned many other observations, not just Amit and Matt.

Edit: If the primary driver was lack of expertise in the ML direction, Uber seems an odd place to land, doesn't it?

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

#85

Post by pyrophane »

CalChris wrote: post #15
SixSigma wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big $$ talk loud

If Singhal is motivated by money at this point then he's a straight up fool. I'm going to give this all the due regard of a Mayer going to Yahoo.

Why do you say that? Last I checked money still had a lot of utility in our society.

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

#86

Post by schnable »

klausa wrote: post #77
cryptozeus wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have same feeling, one my friend worked at a flywheel (uber but with taxi cabs)...he said that uber dominates this industry. They have figured out the biggest obstacle which is government regulations. This is the big challenge for any startup trying to copy uber.

I wouldn't call "knowingly breaking the law and throwing VC money at the lawyers until the problem goes away" necessarily "figuring out government regulations".

It's worked very well in many markets.

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

#87

Post by rifung »

tyingq wrote: post #84
congerous wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do they care less than they used to, though? That's impossible to measure, but the arguments you have employed regarding personnel changes do not demonstrate your point.

Okay...the top two publicly visible leaders in the space leaving in the same timeframe could mean something. Perhaps in this case it does not. I don't think either of us knows for sure. It does, however, pique my interest in what the group direction is now. What of the decision to not replace Matt with a specific role or person? Is that not interesting? And, again, I mentioned many other observations, not just Amit a…

Another explanation for their leaving is that the overall strategy around Search is changing and now outside of those two individuals' realm of expertise.

I work for Google but this is pure speculation on my part.

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

#88

Post by rifung »

CalChris wrote: post #15
SixSigma wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big $$ talk loud

If Singhal is motivated by money at this point then he's a straight up fool. I'm going to give this all the due regard of a Mayer going to Yahoo.

What if he were only indirectly motivated by money? Money has a lot of potential for philanthropy after all and he did say that that's where he'd like to focus.

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

#89

Post by oculusthrift »

klausa wrote: post #77
cryptozeus wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have same feeling, one my friend worked at a flywheel (uber but with taxi cabs)...he said that uber dominates this industry. They have figured out the biggest obstacle which is government regulations. This is the big challenge for any startup trying to copy uber.

I wouldn't call "knowingly breaking the law and throwing VC money at the lawyers until the problem goes away" necessarily "figuring out government regulations".

they have many obama administration people in their leadership as well

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

#90

Post by s3r3nity »

pcl wrote: post #78
1qaz2wsx wrote: post #45

have people considered this may eventually lead to Google acquiring Uber? There is the advising CEO Travis Kalanick bit in there.

Relatedly, I booked an Uber last night from within the Google Maps app on my phone, and the entire experience was in-app -- route selection, driver pick-up tracking, in-ride tracking, and drop-off confirmation. That's a whole lot tighter integration than I've seen in the past. The rumor-monger in me wants to read all sorts of acquisition talks into that level of product integration. (Which is great for another reason…

You can book Lyft as well - both are pretty solid experiences.
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