Here is my SWOT Analysis thus far...it is still a work in progress....any feedback is welcomed!
GOOGLE
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External Opportunities (O)
· Adwords and Adsense – pay per click program, Google’s biggest revenue comes from advertising
· Acquiring of other programs (i.e. YouTube, Android, and Picasa)
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External Threats (T)
· Competition from other search engines
· Changes in user preference
· Google is a little “older”, needs to keep up with all the latest trends in technology
· Needs to maintain competitive advantage with search engine – moving away from that would be detrimental
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Internal Strengths (S)
· Simplicity of look and feel, ease of use
· Speed/quickness of search engine
· Output of information is extremely well –structured
· All products are web services, so can be utilized on the simplest of machines
· Highly innovative – workers are allowed 20% of work week to work on their own projects
· Improved market share by buying key companies (DoubleClick) or by forming key partnerships (AOL)
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SO Strategies=Attacking Strategy
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WO Strategies=Build Strength for Attacking Strategy
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Internal Weaknesses (W)
· Issue in differentiating content (i.e. good, real good etc) due to inability of search engine to check credibility
· Information can be manipulated
· Consumers are not always aware of all available products
· Limited production of
· desktop applications that can stand alone w/o internet
· Compared to major competition (i.e. Microsoft), has yet to make a mark in the gaming industry
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ST Strategies=Defensive Strategy
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WT Strategies=Build Strength for Defensive Strategy
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Carmin,
ReplyDeleteYou provided some highly detailed information here on Google's strengths and weaknesses. I found the strategies to be right in-line with some of my thoughts around Google as well - for example, the ability to leverage acquisitions as a way of staying cutting edge and ahead of the competition. This also allows them to buy out companies that could become their competition at some point.
One point that I found interesting was where you mention Google as being "older". I haven't thought about Google this way despite their longevity. In articles and marketing, I've always felt they are considered to be a technology-of-the-moment type of company, so that gives me something to consider.
I also feel strongly that technology and especially the software industry is moving away from desktop applications. There is no shortage of new smartphones apps and a lot of the technology shift has been away from desktop to portable devices. With that said, I don't see Google's limited stand alone applications to be a big threat in today's market...possibly and opportunity.
Carmin,
ReplyDeleteMany of your proposed strategies overlapped with mine. I totally agree that while attacking other competitors, Google should not forget to its own home turf - search engines. They absolutely do need to "Utilized R&D and strengths to keep search engine faster/quicker than competitor’s". Microsoft, Yahoo and others are still trying to get their own search engines to surpass Google's. Sometimes, the best strategy to win is to build strong defense first.
I am not sure it is a weakness of Google's for not yet getting into gaming industry. I believe Google needs to focus more rather than fighting many battles at the same time. Gaming industry is already saturated, I believe, and the margin is probably really low. Not getting into that business might be a plus for Google.
Carmin,
ReplyDeleteI really like the point you make on Google’s external threats that Google needs to maintain competitive advantage with search engine. We always think that Google now is the best in search engine and no one can compete with it. Its unique business model of selling advertisement on Google page provides it with competitive advantage. But how do we know how long will this situation last? We don’t know if the next big thing will come out tomorrow. Google needs to think of alternatives and improvements on its search engine while developing other profitable product.
Good points. I would have put AdWords and AdSense in the IS category as they are Google products/services based on their own technology. But the size of the programs and the momentum they have in the market engage tens of thousands of advertisers. So I can see ES, too.
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