谷歌急需震惊世界的新产品

    谷歌公司（Google）最近一次让世界眩晕是什么时候？

    到今年夏天，谷歌（Google）就将迎来自己14岁的生日。谷歌的发展史上充满了令互联网产业震惊的时刻——谷歌的公司网站对其中大多数成就都有所提及。谷歌的创潮之流肇始于2000年，当时谷歌的搜索引擎成为全球的巨无霸。而“关键词广告”（AdWords）和“内容广告”（Adsense）虽然对消费者来说不那么直观，却同样是对业界影响深远的创新之作。数年来，谷歌推出、收购了其他众多富有特色的产品：谷歌新闻、谷歌地球、谷歌语音、谷歌图书、谷歌翻译以及Blogger和YouTube网站。正是它们为互联网的创新设定了至高标准。就算是像“书籍词频统计器”（Ngram Viewer）和“自动驾驶汽车”（self-driving cars）这些对增加广告收入没什么实际作用的特色产品，也会让人愿意花上大把时间去了解它们背后包含的大量信息。

    谷歌于2010年年末发布的Ngram能让用户直观地看到各种关键概念的兴衰起落。但自从它问世，谷歌就再没有真正推出一款让世界惊叹、让世人热议的产品。过去一年多来，谷歌推出的产品都是模仿其他公司已发明的产品。Google+可能试图优化Facebook，但它大部分还是停留在山寨水平。而上周发布的Google Play，则像是苹果公司（Apple）iTunes的复制版。

    而大多数谷歌业已推出有一段时间的产品也是这种情况。Google Offers看起来像是团购网站Groupon和LivingSocial旗鼓相当的竞争对手，但也仅此而已：它就是一个竞争者，在挑战市场地位稳固的领导品牌。谷歌曾试图收购Groupon，如果成功，就会使谷歌成为团购市场的领导者，但是遭到对方拒绝。于是现在，谷歌只不过是这个人头攒动的市场中的众多商家之一。

    谷歌目前在其他领域推出的新产品也只是模仿其他公司。凭借谷歌钱包，谷歌运用近场通讯技术（near-field communication）在移动支付市场稍许占得先机。但只有少数人能用上谷歌钱包，而Intuit公司、苹果公司和Visa公司也正在开发能与之抗衡的应用。

    当然，利用互联网已经成型的商业模式未必总是坏事。谷歌早年的成功来源于打造了一款更出色的搜索引擎。而谷歌文件则对微软公司（Microsoft）的办公软件Office构成了显著挑战，迫使后者利用生产力软件（productivity software）重新思考自己的战略。但是像Google+、Offers以及最新推出的Play等产品则并没有在与竞争对手的较量中占据明显优势。看起来，它们更像是一家公司将手伸向多个新兴市场，期望取得最大的斩获。

    谷歌有充分的理由选择这个发展方向。自担任首席执行官以来，拉里•佩奇就已将公司的主要精力集中在核心产品上，减少了留给员工琢磨新创意的时间。去年夏天，佩奇关闭了谷歌实验室。这个孵化器专为催生创意而设，但它常常更多地只是激发人们的好奇心，而不是带来收入。谷歌取而代之的做法是，围绕Google+的社交层（social layer），将其众多深受欢迎的特色产品整合到一个新网站上。

    由于谷歌95%的营收还是来自于广告（其他收入来自订阅服务及像谷歌应用之类的产品），目前的工作重心合情合理。谷歌目前所做的，是将其由众多服务和特色产品构成的庞大帝国——搜索、视频、电子商务、移动应用及社交网络——整合成一个更完整的资产。据称，谷歌已经发现，就算用户并未活跃地使用其Google+的个人档案，它们仍能增加广告的访问率。

    When was the last time Google did something dazzling?

    For a company that turns 14 this summer, Google (GOOG) has a history thick with moments when it surprised the web -- many outlined on the company's site, starting in 2000, when its search engine became the world's largest. Adwords and Adsense were also innovations that, while less visible to consumers, had a significant impact. Through the years, Google unveiled or acquired other features that the set a high standard for innovation on the web: Google News, Earth, Voice, Books, Translate as well as Blogger and YouTube – even features like Ngram Viewer and self-driving cars that had no real potential for new ad revenue but that invited you to waste hours exploring the data they organized.

    But since Ngram, which appeared in late 2010 and allowed users to visualise the rise and fall of concepts, Google hasn't really unveiled a product that's wowed the world and gotten people talking. Over the past year or so, it's introduced products that replicate what other companies have innovated. Google+ may try to improve on Facebook, but it mostly copies it. Google Play, announced last week, seems like a knockoff of Apple's (AAPL) iTunes.

    And that's been the case with many of the features Google has been rolling out for a while. Google Offers looks like a viable competitor to Groupon (GRPN) and LivingSocial, but that's just it: it's a competitor to an established leader. Google tried to buy Groupon, which would have made Google the leader in the daily-deals market, but the company said no. So now Google is just one of many players in a crowded market.

    In other areas, Google is launching new features that echo what other companies are doing. With Google Wallet, Google had an early lead in the market for mobile payments using near-field communication. But Wallet was available to a small number of people, and companies like Intuit (INTU), Apple and Visa (V) are working on rival offerings.

    Of course, taking on established business models on the web isn't necessarily a bad thing. Google's early success came by building a better search engine. And Google Docs presented a significant challenge to Microsoft's (MSFT) Office, forcing the company to rethink its strategy with the productivity software. But initiatives like Google+, Offers and, most recently, Play don't dramatically improve on their rivals. They look more like a company sticking its fingers into a bunch of growing markets and hoping for the best.

    Google has good reasons for moving in this direction. Since becoming CEO, Larry Page has focused the company's efforts on core products, leaving employees with less time to fiddle around with new ideas. Last summer, Page shut down Google Labs, the incubator for innovative ideas that often generated more curiosity than revenue. Instead, Google worked on integrating its more popular features into a new site built around the Google+ social layer.

    Because 95% of Google's revenue still comes from ads (the rest is from subscriptions and things like Google Apps), that focus makes sense for now. Google is stitching its empire of services and features -- search, video, e-commerce, mobile and, yes, social -- into an integrated property. Google has reportedly seen that, even if people aren't actively using their Google+ profiles, they can still increase ad engagement rates.