Google spills secrets of its success

Originally published on EuropeMedia.net, 17/01/2002.

In the continuation of a series of articles, Duncan Parry talks to leading search engine Google about the company’s future plans.

Q: You opened a sales office in London in September, and have a .co.uk site – what are Google's plans for the UK market?

Google: Google UK will continue to establish and build solid relationships with leading blue chip advertisers and ad agencies and provide local support for our advertising customers. We are working hard to continue generating revenue, and will eventually expand our ad sales team to keep up with performance.

Q: Google is almost unique amongst search engines in not using banner adverts, and your site interface has always been refreshingly clean and uncluttered. Is it Google's aim to focus solely on a free search service, or are you looking at adding subscription-based services, e.g. advanced searches, personalisation, etc?

Google: Google will continue to offer the best internet search experience to users worldwide. We continually explore opportunities to generate additional revenue, but we have nothing to announce at this time. Our current business model, which is based on two sources of revenue, advertising and search services, is performing well and has enabled Google to reach profitability throughout 2001.

Q: Google now boasts an image search, access to newsgroups (and their archives) and a renowned keyword search service. What's next? As the number of broadband users grows, does Google have plans to serve their unique search needs – for example a search option for video downloads or streaming media?

Google: We are continually exploring new ideas to enhance our users’ experience, and broadband is an area that we are interested in. Recently, we added Google Catalogue Search, which enables users to search through hundreds of print catalogues. You can access this service by visiting http://catalogs.google.com.

Q: Search technology is constantly evolving, and the press have labelled several new engines as the "next Google.” Is there a danger in an established company like Google being overtaken by a new company with new technology – and how does Google aim to stay at the head of the search engine pack?

Google: At Google, we take our competitors very seriously. We keep a close eye on emerging technologies today, and we intend to stay ahead by keeping our focus exclusively on search. We will continue developing advanced technology and hiring strong technical employees to help us further our company mission. Google entered the search industry in 1998, competing against established search engines such as Infoseek and AltaVista. By exclusively focusing on search (and not becoming a portal), we have experienced steady growth and success enabling Google to reach profitability in 2001.

Q: Your advertising is based around text adverts - do you have any plans to add other sorts of advertising such as rich media?

Google: We have no plans to change our advertising model in the near future.

Q: Given the reported downturn in online advertising, can you say if Google has experienced any decrease in advertising revenue – and how are your future plans affected by the current economic situation?

Google: Google's advertising revenue continues to increase each quarter. We have experienced great success and steady growth worldwide with our high performance advertising model, and our objective is to maintain that momentum throughout 2002.

Q: Google offers a WAP search service now – what are Google’s plans for the mobile internet?

Google: Google will continue to explore opportunities on numerous wireless platforms. Currently, Google has established partnerships with companies such as Palm, Handspring, Vodaphone, Sprint, AT&T Wireless, and Cingular. In Japan, we offer wireless versions of Google for i-Mode, J-Sky, and EZWeb users.

Q: Some analysts have speculated that localisation services – e.g. locating the nearest Pizza takeaway via a 3G mobile and the local zip code – will be a popular use of mobile internet search services. Is Google looking to eventually develop these sorts of services?

Google: As mentioned, Google is continually exploring new ideas to enhance our users' experience. Location-based technology is an area we are currently researching.

Q: Are their any plans for a Google, i.e. for the Republic of Ireland and the Irish web ?

Google: We are currently researching this market and others to add to Google's country-specific domains.

Q: Google operates a .co.uk site with an option to search "pages from the UK". Can you explain how this works – does it only query the section of your database for .co.uk domains or distinguish sites based on their IP number?

Google: Google searches sites by country code domain and IP address.

Thanks to Google for their participation in this interview.