A strategic review of Google's performance, platforms/products and projects, with competitive analysis, acquisitions analysis and recommendations for partnering and positioning.

1. Signal, Services, Segments
Understanding Google’s Expanding Content Ecosystem
17 September John Blossom, Shore Communications Inc.
2014

2. About Shore
● Content Marketing Strategists
○ For publishing and content technology
products & services in enterprise and
media markets
● We provide:
○ Market research, intelligence & analysis
○ Marketing strategy review and advice
○ Go-to-market content and services
● Recognized:
○ Twice-awarded EContent 100 Company
○ SIIA CODiE – Best Media Blog
shorecominc.com

3. Google’s World
Performance
Platforms
Policies
Projects

4. Quantifying Google
Benchmarks of Google performance

5. Google is the #1 global brand
● If there is a future worth having, people trust Google to deliver it

6. Google is the #1 global search engine
● Rapid growth in developing nations will accelerate global market share

7. Google is the #1 mobile platform
● Rapid growth in developing nations will accelerate global market share

8. Google is the #1 computing platform
● Billions experience the Web mobile-first

9. Google is the #1 Web platform
● Google Chrome dominant on PCs, #3 in mobile and rising

10. Google is the #1 digital ad platform
● Maintaining a strong hold on revenue from context
Source: Statista

11. Invested in the long run for success

12. Invested in the long run for success

13. Strong, but Stalled in the Short Run
Treading water as revenue streams shift slowly to new and broader sources
and investors punish R&D, capex spends

14. Strong, but Stalled in the Short Run
● Treading water as revenue streams shift slowly to new
and broader sources

15. What the top-line numbers tell us
● “Understand the world and make it more usable” works!
● Google innovates rapidly, but being pushed into more and
larger acquisitions and R&D to sustain and grow markets
● Mobile and Web revenue growth is restricted
○ Marketing solutions aren’t helping small businesses to grow
fast enough to generate significant new revenues
○ Over-centralized social media and mainstream media
restricting growth of quality content destinations
○ The Signal Economy is real, but infrastructure and services
are still very immature
○ Regulatory pushback in large/developed markets
● Best hopes focused on constant redefinition of markets

16. Google vs. Competitors
● Apple: fading walled-garden position, Google
x-platform apps minimize
direct impact, a BMW in a Chevy world
● Microsoft: Huge investment
and restructuring to get back
into the game rapidly, strong brand growth and enterprise loyalty, but
legacy and near-zero mobile share a huge challenge vs. Google
● Facebook: Stranglehold on mom, dad, small businesses and social
marketers may loosen as Google attacks these, lack of
sense-making for personal signals and Web content
● Amazon: Strengths are becoming weaknesses as Google’s
disjointed tools for business marketing & fulfillment mature

17. Google Platforms 2014
Highlights and trends

18. The world according to Android
● Any device, any market
● Signal-driven services
● Openness that customers want
● Fueling inter-platform services
● Defines leading edge of
performance, innovation
● Expanding premium content
offerings and mojo
● Acquisitions and features pushing
into enterprise

19. Android: products for all markets

20. Android: Not just for geeks and cheap
● Leading in specs and design
○ Moto X rivals iPhone 6 for style and performance
○ Nexus “X” (Fall launch) “spec killer”
○ HTC One M8, HTC Nexus 9 Tablet (Fall)
● $100 Android One launched in India
● Flexible licensing strategy pays
○ Vendors mostly adopt Play Services
○ Allowed to compete with own services
○ “Pure” Android growing
■ Nexus/”Almost pure” models
■ Google Play Editions
■ “Silver”

21. Android drives signal services
● Google Now predictive and voice-driven
services (some appear in Notifications)

22. Android & enterprises
● iOS 67% ent. share in Q214 vs. Android 32%
● Samsung Knox MDM/EMM device management
integrated into base code
● National security-cleared versions emerging
● Acquisition of Divide for BYOD encryption and
work/personal contacts/content division
● Google committed to fork of OpenSSL to address
Heartbleed exploits
● Google Drive Android apps provide more editing

23. Android Wear
● Extends Android phone apps functionality
● Voice commands/notifications/gestures focus
● “At a glance” functionality
+ health sensors
● Motorola, LG,
Samsung, Asus, more
● Predictive services
● Easy-to-customise features
● All-day battery life? (varies)
● Compatible with all Android 4.4+ phones

24. Google Glass
● Full production availability for Explorer Edition
● The only head-mounted full-function wearable -
but a niche market (new model expected)

25. Is Google Glass a “fail”?
● The last “escaped
product” from
Sergey Brin?
● Extension of
Cr-48 dev’t
concept
● More apps!
● The bleeding
edge “Corvette”
tested system/apps for Android Wear “Impala”

26. Android vs. iPhone
● iPhone 6 corners
“iPhone but bigger”
market
● Almost no feature
innovation, specs
often eclipsed by
best Android devices
● Apple Pay debut is timed for 2015 rollout of
smart bank cards in U.S., but Wallet does more

27. Android Wear vs. Apple Watch
● Full apps run on Watch
● 3 style levels
● Early 2015 availability
● Trying to do too much?
● Works only with iPhones
● Unknown battery life
● DATED concept for
wearables compared to
Android Wear
● Margin-building focus

28. Android on the horizon
● Nexus X - “spec-killer” phone with 4K video
● Nexus “9” - tablet w/optional keyboard
● Android 5.0/”L” - enhanced battery life, ART
performance, Material design + multi-platform
integration
● Android TV
● Year-round new
products to build
market momentum

29. Android TV - multiplatorm, multiplay
● Cross-content video search and curation
● Emphasis on gameplay via phones/tablets/jstick
● Chromecast integration
● Upcoming voice-command casting/auto-casting

30. Android & Google Play services
● Near-equivalent content vs. competitors from
audio, video publishers (can’t afford not to)
● Book publishers lag, but catching up slowly
(Authors’ Guild suit impact diminished)
● Game
publishers see
x-platform &
performance
opportunities
● Apps? #1

31. The world according to Chrome
● The dominant global Web experience
● 64-bit across all platforms (V37)
● Integrating Android Apps
● Chrome OS growth
● Mobile sensor APIs
● Pushing graphics standards
● Google Now integration
● Android file system access
● Chrome for Meetings
● Edit Office Docs in Drive

32. Chrome 64-Bit = performance
● For all PCs, Android
& Chrome OS
● Introduced in
Version 37
● Enables better
performance for
games, streaming,
Native Client
● Enables Android apps embedding

33. Android Apps on Chrome
● Limited release
(4 apps)
● Uses Native Client
secure container
● APIs still developing
● Keyboard or
touchscreen use
● Available for secure offline use
● Chrome as the universal OS? MSFT worried.

34. Chrome OS: More than niche

35. Chrome OS extends Android playbook
● Early “it’s a joke” false analysis in media
obscured growth as platform was refined
● Launches again and again with more and more
platform partners
● Hits “can’t miss” price points
● Touchscreen models
● High battery performance
● Truly viable offline use
● Secure, zero-virus use
● Wide enterprise use

36. Chrome OS grows features list
● Offline streaming support for video, audio
● Multiple profile support
● Google Now data cards integration,voice search
● Android device downloads mountable via USB
● Android-style on-screen touch keyboards
● Android apps integration
● More Web apps support (e.g., GoToMeeting)
● More Web-based developers’ tools
● New Chromebox models from ASUS, HP, Dell

37. Chrome - more graphics and sensors
● The gyro-sensitive, game-quality Web

38. Chromebox for Meetings
● Enterprise-grade streaming videoconferencing
○ High-CPU Chromebox, remote, HD cam, speaker/mike
○ Voice-activated and collaboration tools
○ Compatible with many desktop/conference systems
○ Starts at $999/room for hardware & service

39. Windows 8 fights Chrome OS
● Heavily discounted, stripped models
● Trial versions of antivirus, Office
● Launching at higher-than-Chromebook prices
● Back-to-school
sales pushed
back some of
Chrome OS’
2013 gains
● Enterprise sales
remain strong

40. Will Chrome OS grow like Android?
● Chrome’s pervasiveness on PCs may not translate to
“ready for a Chromebook/box”
● Powerful, but Drive not yet a “killer” cloud app vs.
Windows Office 365 as large enterprise standard
● Android integration
makes enterprise
sales much easier
● Mobile integration
emerging strength
● Web apps key

41. Chromecast: Pervasive cord-cutter
● 4+ million $35 units sold since 24 July 2013 launch
● Now sold in 12+ countries
● About 500 Chromecast-enabled apps, Drive streams
● Right now it’s a Roku/Chromecast race for streams
● Producers moving towards streaming over cable

42. Nest: Sensing the home
● $3.2 billion buys a branding hedge, mostly
● Aim is to have sensors and predictive services in
every room in the house
● Product recalls, high pricing makes it a long-term bet

43. Google+: The quiet social giant
● #2 network? stats “iffy”
● Underused by marketers
● Interest-based audiences
● Android drives global use
● Backing off author tags
● Ahead of Facebook in
automated content curation, video + photos services
● Google’s unbundled G+ services aped by Facebook

44. Google Drive: x-platform, offline, APIs
●

45. Gmail: More active + friendly
● Automated sorting of emails
● More integration of media players,
Google+ profiles and content
● Better ad context
● Integration of data from emails into
Google Now data cards (e.g., shipping
notifications)

46. Google for Education: Classroom
● Automated sorting of emails
● More integration of media players,
Google+ profiles and content
● Better ad context
● Integration of data from emails into
Google Now data cards (e.g., shipping
notifications)

47. Google Views: Curating Maps photos
●

48. Google Fiber: Live and growing
● 1GB/s for $70/mo, 1.5MB free w/$300 install
● Rollouts live in 3 cities, targeting 9 new metros
● Already pressuring
cableco prices
down
● FCC reviewing
competitiveness of
ISP marketplace

49. Google and Amazon: Unfriendly giants
● Order fulfillment initiatives
○ Shopping Express
(limited trial rollout)
○ Google[x] drone delivery
tests in Australia
● Streamlining, enhancing
support for small merchants and cloud services
● Fizzling Fire phone and TV box sales offset by
media pricing leverage and YouTube-only originals

50. Google Policy Trends
EU “Right to be forgotten”
Net Neutrality
Personal identity and security

51. Google and EU “Right to be forgotten”
● Expert panel implemented guidelines relatively
rapidly, 91.000 requests for 328.000 link removals
● Doesn’t address commercial databases that have
already scraped data into “dark” subscription
sources
● Censorship
easily
bypassed

52. Google and Net Neutrality
● U.S. Federal Communications received 1+ million
comments on proposed Net Neutrality changes
● Google lobbied at first quietly for preserving “all-equal”
access, then more prominently
● FCC likely
to expand
neutrality
protections

53. Google and personal data
● Secure HTTP and dual-factor authentication key
tools for managing personal data securely
● Apple iCloud breach triggered late and incomplete
dual-factor options, may have stifled iPhone launch
● Prioritizing search results
for HTTPS-secured sites
● But average person still
doesn’t understand the
differences well...

54. Google Projects
Baseline Study health data
Project Tango
Advanced communications networks
Interesting acquisitions

55. Google Baseline Study: small, huge
● Intense digital health data collection from 175 subjects
● Using a variety of sensors
○ May include experimental contact lens for diabetes
data
● Goal is to verify clinical
value of intense health
monitoring
● May define key services
and standards

56. Project Tango: 3D imaging for mobile
● Development prototype devices that scan spaces
into 3D data models in realtime
● Applicable to mapping databases, motion-triggered
apps and services, games, augmented reality
● New sensors promise
3D data via one lens
● May surface in
production products
as early as 2015

57. Project Ara: Production Prowess
● Modular mobile
phone chassis
● 3D-printable
components
● Tailored production
for modules and
standard chassis
● 2015 debut

58. Advanced Networks: web everywhere
● Titan Aerospace acquisition highlights interest in wide-area
wireless/mobile network options
● Alpental acquisition to extend capabilities of gigabit
Web connectivity more cost-effectively
● Short-term push in
Africa for higher speeds
in urban settings
● Rural strategies not
realistic so far

59. Machine Learning: DeepMind
● Stealth startup acquisition focused on artificial
intelligence (machine learning)
● More revenues in marketing and services shifting
towards predictive analytics (The Signal Economy)
● Quantum computing
may accelerate
machine learning
capabilities

60. Realtime Imaging: Skybox
● Evaluating satellite imagery for realtime “signals”
● Applications to industry, traffic services, navigation
(is the parking lot full, etc.), marketing
● Improved satellite resolution
powers detailed semantic
image analysis
● Applying lessons learned
from other semantic imaging
services

61. Semantic music curation: Songza
● Context-driven content curation with a human touch
● Music genres follow your work/life patterns
● Some tech may be applied to Google Play Music

62. Summing it all up
The big picture
What it means
What we should do

63. Google’s big picture
● Agile giant with long
term focus and short
term product execution
● Still a geek culture, but
learning how to make it
a brand “plus”
● Still does “moonshots”
but the target range is now more isolated from
mainstream and productized more carefully

64. What Google means for you
● Leverages open platforms
to build valuable signal
● Redefines what’s interesting
via new definitions of content,
markets and services
● Semantic context for data
from anywhere is gold
● Investing in the “next 5 billion” aggressively

65. What to do next about Google
● The era of the walled garden isn’t dead, but it’s not
where the growth is - spend on success in the
open/mobile Web and being relevant in the midst of its
signals and services (as if you shouldn’t have already)
● Be at the forefront of cross-platform standards and
services - before Google defines them for you
● Come to terms with the mistakes that you made in
combatting Google - and move on

66. For Follow-Up
PHONE
(+01)203.293.8511
EMAIL
jblossom@shorecominc.com
WEB
shorecominc.com
johnblossom.com
TWITTER/GOOGLE+
@jblossom google.com/+JohnBlossom
POST
John Blossom
President
Shore Communications Inc.
80 Talcott Road
Guilford, CT 06437-5002 USA