Wednesday, July 8, 2009

(Obvious) hints from the Google blog post

Silent updates by default

And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

I believe that the reference means that Google will feature silent updates in its OS, in line with the offering in Google Chrome. While Google may allow a choice on where to look for updates, chances are that those options will not be blatantly obvious to the end-users. If offered, these options would be targeted and marketed to IT departments in large corporations who cringe at the idea of silent updates. I doubt that Google is desperately seeking a corporate audience, though. The main focus seems to be on the consumer, who won't mind silent updates as long as it is not bothersome or cumbersome.

Developers, will you please go web-based?

these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Google wants developers to get on the cloud. The cloud is where Google's lifeline is. The cloud is where Google wants us to be. The more people are on the net, the more possibility there is for advertisements. Remember, I said possibility for advertisements as there is also an incentive to minimize advertisements — they make people less irritated. They also drive cost per advertisement up, but that's where our wants meet with theirs. This is further evidenced in the next quote where Google is quite upfront that it intends to make money off the project.

any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.

The less time people spend trying to find their way around computers, the more time they have to click on advertisements and bid on auctions. As we have seen with Google Chrome, Google will likely allow and encourage other search engines on its platform, if for nothing else than to stave off anti-trust efforts.

So what is the bottom line here? I believe it will reassure investors that Google is as focused as ever. The clear push from Google to get people on the net shows that Google wants to grow its revenue base by increasing the revenue base of the whole Internet advertising industry (with ~70% market share, is there any other significant way?). This also shows a long-term commitment from Google towards the Internet. However, perhaps the most important news is this: as Google grows and increases the size of the Internet advertising pie, competitors trying to nibble away pieces of the pie will find it easier to nibble away bigger pieces of the pie. As Richard Quest of CNN oft says, "There's money to be made."

Quotes from The Official Google Blog (to be linked soon) by Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management and Linus Upson, Engineering Director and timestamped at 7/07/2009 09:37:00 PM

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