How Google Works

John Kliewer

LIS 201

Google: Innovation in a Rapidly Evolving Market

Google is one of the most successful companies of the 21^st Century. They have expanded from a search engine to a provider of anything from complex mapping systems to intricate algorithms for relevant advertising; they even a space program.  The outlay of Google’s atmosphere is radically different than that of corporations in the industrial era, Google incorporates unique post-industrial ideas to revolutionize the modern day business concept and remain successful. From hiring a unique self-driven worker called a “smart creative” to getting rid of offices to change the dynamic of the corporation, Google has revolutionized the innovation of technology in this exponentially changing market. Many companies such as Borders (originally worth over one billion dollars) became bankrupt due to their failure to adapt to the market. Borders failed to adopt a business strategy like Google's, which is continually innovating. They explain their business plan in the book How Google Works. The authors, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg were heavily involved in the company as it rapidly expanded in the early 2000s. Eric Schmidt (right) was a former Chief Executive Officer from 2001-2011 and Jonathan Rosenberg (left) was a Senior Vice President.

• Google generated are more than $55.5 billion in 2013, establishing themselves as a powerhouse in the Internet industry. Their influence is evident since there are two million “Google” searches every second.  

Why is Google so successful in an ever-changing innovation based business? 

• Google's ideology and culture exemplifies the response to the widespread development of technology and the trends associated with it.

Two trends were discussed in this book due to the growth of the information society:

1. Consumers have more power

Since consumers have power, the companies focus should be on the user experience. This is one thing that Google holds to a high standard. They know "global growth is within anyone's reach," so they must provide the best user experience if they do not want to become obsolete. Since anyone has the choice in the search engine they use, Google’s search engine (which is made up of highly successful algorithms for web browsing) aims to give the user the most relevant websites and ads based on the user’s history and information, known as an algorithm. Since algorithms are not objective, there is a distinct possibility of error, bias, manipulation, laziness, commercial or political influence, or systematic failures" (Gillespie). Companies with less effective algorithms are overlooked. The two google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, discovered the basis for Google's algorithm. Due to the large amount of information on the internet, they look to provide the most relevant information, which is difficult, but Google utilizes over 200 factors in each search. Furthermore, because it is advanced and easy to use, Google has been successful in changing web behavior to the point where “googling” has become a common term to mean searching on the web.

2. The costs of experimentation and failure have decreased

How do you encourage innovation in such a large company?

Google found if they overall company growth instead of profits, they can be much more influential. Using this strategy, Google decided to share as much as possible. When advertising companies had the option, they always showed more ads to meet their "ambitious revenue objectives." If they would have focused on profit they would not nearly be as successful. 

In addition to focusing on growth, Google organizes it's community around innovation. The way Google organizes its company culture is radically different than that of 20^th century multi-billion dollar industries like Henry Ford’s. In the Industrial Revolution, they were focused on lowering risk and avoiding mistakes. The typical worker was given single specific tasks to do: one way was through use of an assembly line. This type of business was known as Industrialist (Veysey).These tasks required no employee input and required little critical thinking. In contrast, because of the lower cost of experimentation, Google is all about taking risks.


Google encourages collaboration across departments and have eliminated closed offices in their buildings- replacing them with community areas (to generate idea sharing). Google even allows employees pursue areas of interest for a portion of work time, which has led to many innovative ideas such as Google Maps.

Employees are treated much differently as well. Regardless of status in the company, anyone can voice their opinions and criticisms. Google seeks the feedback of employees on the company’s direction, this way they can take into account various perspectives to produce the best experience for the user as well as maintain the trust of their consumers. In traditional companies, the company executives make the decisions and relay the information to the lower status workers, but Google provides an open forum where employees can argue with one another and where the Chief Executive Official can even have his ideas critiqued by a low level employee. This reflects a post-industrial corporation.

Overall, this book is a great read for all. Due to the groundbreaking changes in technology, a revised management system is necessary for many companies. These authors give advice from company culture to types of employees to hire, which is great for aspiring entrepreneurs. Their advice is credible because it is backed up by various examples of what has worked and what has not. Many company executives should look to leave the old management of business and adopt this successful new type of management because innovation is the future in technological progress and Google's system has remained a dominant force.

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Sources
- Schmidt, Eric, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle. Google: How Google Works. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
- Watkins, S. Craig "The very well connected: Friending, bonding, and community in the digital age," The Young and the Digital (2009).  

- Spence, Michael “Information technology and the integration of the global economy,” in The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World (2011).

- Gillespie, Tarleton “The relevance of algorithms,” in T. Gillespie et al. eds., Media Technologies (2014).

- Veysey,  Laurence"A postmortem on Daniel Bell's postindustrialism," American Quarterly 34:1 (1982).