The Google guy was beaten down. He said the company has pretty much lost focus. He said every meeting is about the iPad, iPhone, music service like iTunes, social like Facebook, coupons like Groupon. He said people are just tired and worn out. And that Google was fighting too many battles. He said Google+, was a complete waste of time.
I’m not the first to suggest that Google have lost their focus a bit these days. But here’s the solution.
We all know that this is Google’s strength. This is where the made themselves. So focus on the search bar.
That doesn’t mean they have to focus on search. I mean, they should keep a huge focus on search. But they should move away from anything that isn’t search-related. Google+, as much as I want to like it, might be something they should remove focus. Instead, focus on the search bar. Because that’s changing.
It’s changing because search is changing online. The search bar isn’t just for Google searches anymore. The way we find things online is changing. We don’t get all our information from a traditional Google search. We find what we’re looking for, sometimes serendipitously, through friends and trusted curators. We read what our Twitter friends read. We find coffee table inspiration through Pinterest boards and Svpply streams. And with an ever declining trust for Business, Governments and Institutions, we might even see a renaissance in old-school forums. Cluetrain style.
Someone needs to make it easy to search for all of this wonderful content. Somehow. That won’t be easy. But someone needs to focus on it. And that someone may as well be Google.
They shouldn’t be focussed on tablets, or social, or bloody Groupon. They should focus on what people are looking for, and help them find it.
