Business Play Action Analysis

Mountain View, CA --- Google’s announcement today of the launch of its new Google Sites service added another notch on the company’s belt as it continues to develop products and services that challenge its archrival Microsoft.

Though generally agreed in the business and tech press that the new product is not a revolutionary new concept or a formidable rival to Microsoft, it plays well into Google’s slow and steady measured approach to toppling Gates et al. A quick glance at some of Google’s lineup – Gmail, YouTube, Maps, Calendars, Docs, Blogger, Picasa and GOOG-411 to name a few – and the critical and popular attention they are receiving underscores the success of the approach.

Most of the company’s products start out as small-scale Trial Balloons that amass enough support from the trendsetting young users excited for something new and subsequently blossom into the industry standard. Think how often you hear “Google” as a verb, even on NPR, as if there were no other possible considerations.

Looking then at the Google Sites announcement, an initial guess might be a simple Fiat announcing a new product or maybe a Peacock with the company flaunting the latest addition to its technological suite. However, taking into consideration Google’s relationship with Microsoft, I think the announcement was a strategic Crowd.

The Crowd was a high-fit move between Google and its user demographic, playing into its users’ desire for functional, practical and useful products that make life easier and more connected. But simplifying the game significantly more efficiently than its Microsoft neighbors up north, Google is living up to that ease of access it is known for. Of course, the announcement likely stirred up the friction at Microsoft with Google once again showing up and trying to beat Microsoft at its own game.

With Google’s own spokespeople calling Sites a “Sharepoint killer” in reference to Microsoft’s comparable product, Google made it clear that it was not only launching a product but throwing its gauntlet down in the “ring.” I do not think that Google intends to seriously Challenge Microsoft on the merits of this particular software, nor do I think Microsoft is quaking in its boots over the supposed new challenger. But the point is clear: Google is once again tipping its hat to Microsoft, letting the Redmond, WA team know that Mountain View is full steam ahead on its heels. Just as Gmail, YouTube, Maps and Blogger have grown in such a short period of time into icons of the internet era, so I would imagine Sites might once the hip underground catches wind of it.

Post by Kamil Walji, MA candidate