Tag Archives: MySpace

Hey Google: Please Don’t Create Another Facebook

Posted on 28. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 6 Comments

facebookbedifferent1 Hey Google: Please Dont Create Another FacebookWhile it’s clear that they don’t want to talk about it, the powers that be over at Google are scheming on ways to create a social networking rival to Facebook. All I have to say is please do something different. I mean, for starters, Facebook has undergone so many changes since I first started using it that I barely recognize it.

I’m not sure anymore what the difference between a being a fan or joining a page on Facebook really means, and I also don’t like those creeped-out ads that take my birthdate and somehow try to spin it into a reason why I would want to click on those side links.

Facebook Credits? Come on, what a terrible name for a virtual currency. I would have preferred FaceBucks to that. At least it would start some amazing conversations.

I mean, how is Facebook even making any money? I’ve never given them a single dollar. Sure, I know some people love to buy virtual goods, but can you really make a multibillion dollar company out of virtual shovels in FarmVille and brass knuckles for punching virtual faces in Mafia Wars?

Google: just create something that is different than Facebook, and you’ll succeed. Especially since we know that the UI won’t look like MySpace, it will probably work.

In related news, Facebook officially is the only social networking option available, so you might as well add me as a friend since there’s no alternative.

Is Google’s Battle Against Apple Turning Towards Hardware?

Posted on 25. Apr, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments

appleagainstgoogle Is Googles Battle Against Apple Turning Towards Hardware?I don’t think that many people expected a battle pitting Google versus Apple a year ago, much less a rivalry that is based on hardware.

In that span of time, many things have changed. No longer is Eric Schmidt on Apple’s board and it is anyone’s guess how much longer Google branded services will be promoted on Apple devices. Acquisitions have been heating up between the two companies, with both of them sporting no debt and having large cash reserves.

This past week has seen Google purchase Agnilux, which is a start-up semiconductor company that was founded by some people who once worked for P.A. Semi, bought by Apple in 2008 and reportedly featuring some of the technology that is inside the iPad. You following this? I know, perplexing. There seems to be a rush for semiconductors in the hardware market to push the market past what we’ve been using for years: netbooks and laptops.

Case in point: the rumor that is going around whereby Apple plans on purchasing ultra-mobile chip developer ARM. While I’m sure Apple covets ARM’s technology (since it is used in the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch) it doesn’t sound as if ARM wants to become a part of Apple. That’s probably because even though they are ARM’s biggest customer, ARM would likely lose most of their other competing customers such as Samsung, Qualcomm and Google (now via Android and soon Chrome OS).

“Nobody has to buy the company”, is the quote from ARM CEO Warren East when asked about Apple buyout rumors. That may be true, but when you see that Chromium’s newest releases are showing that the hardware is being steered toward using ARM solutions for processing, this probably makes Apple a bit nervous because they already have hold of a nice niche with great margins.

It makes sense in that light why when they recently purchased chip designer Intrinsity, they decided to keep it quiet. Also kept silent is the fact that Intrinsity likely had more to do with Apple’s A4 processor than anyone inside the company wants to be known.

While we’re on the subject of hardware, expect to see a different platform model as Chrome OS progresses, one that blends Apple’s model with an open source software environment. In order to offer the best user experience the hardware requirements for Chrome OS are going to be dictated by Google. At the same time, they will allow developers to continue to work on Chromium in an effort to make it the best cloud platform out there.

Expect to also see an integrated store for apps that cost money with Chrome OS, with Google acting as the intermediary for billing and marketing of the marketplace. All other apps will be readily available on the web if they are free, allowing developers to focus on their craft and tipping their hats to Google for paid offerings and the platform that allows interoperability with other developers’ apps.

It’s a somewhat reverse model from Microsoft, which has in the past allowed for hardware manufacturers to develop for their platform, but keeping the operating system and tools to create applications under lock and key. Many times I have heard from developers how the methods by which Microsoft dictates its architecture causes problems in terms of software development; however these gripes seem to be declining.

Hopefully, Google will take caution to make sure that they do not end up with the same problems, but in opposite order. Hardware manufacturers may become exasperated by strong technical requirements needed for Chrome OS hardware, causing material costs to rise and thus margins to be much lower than is accustomed. Of course, one can also put into account the fact that the licensing costs that are associated with Microsoft’s operating systems will not come into play since Chrome OS is free.

At the same time, a hodgepodge of applications that run on Chrome OS are going to need to have a strong, unifying Google-like theme that will save the operating system from looking like a MySpace-oriented user interface. Apple has done this successfully, but of course at the expense of allowing an open environment and allowing some web functionality (Flash) to work properly on their devices.

Bottom line: Google bought a secretive hardware company, which has to mean something worthwhile for either the cloud or for mobile devices. Clearly this is a strategic move to compete with Apple, albeit in a different way than the iDevices. We shall soon see which way that is.

Facebook May Have the Traffic, But Google Visitors Worth More

Posted on 23. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 2 Comments

revenuepervisit Facebook May Have the Traffic, But Google Visitors Worth MoreLast week it was announced that Facebook had overtaken Google Search as the most heavily trafficked site on the web. While this does not include Google’s other offerings – only Search – it still means that Facebook is going to be a major competitor against Google in the future. I would expect the companies to be competing on several different fronts and along with Microsoft’s push of Bing with no abandon for how much they spend on marketing Google is beginning to enter a phase where they can expect rivals on all fronts.

Something that many people may not realize is how much every user Google gets to their site that they covet because of how much every single visitor is worth:

revenueuniques Facebook May Have the Traffic, But Google Visitors Worth More

Google: $18.44 per unique
AOL: $12
Yahoo: $6
Microsoft: $4.42
Facebook: $3.09
Twitter: $0.62.

So although Facebook has surpassed Google Search, it isn’t exactly a day of reckoning. Google’s revenue in terms of traffic to its sites far outweighs any other web property and Facebook isn’t even close. This is because Facebook doesn’t really have a solid revenue model yet, plus the fact that their users are not interested in creepy ads that take personal data from profiles. Actually, if you think about it, social media on this graph is not doing very well in terms of revenue per user.

Sure, Twitter has yet to really monetize their site, citing that they want to focus on their core business first. But what is their core business? Whatever it is it should probably include making some money. AOL is doing surprisingly well here, because somehow their long standing subscription model that still seems to work, while Microsoft and Yahoo continues to push their portals as media hubs which seem to be doing them well.

And Google? Well, let’s not be surprised here why they want to push Android, Chrome browser and Chrome OS. The more that they do that, the more this number will go up. The resulting gap between them and their competitors will continue to widen, but that’s with the consideration that social media can’t find a way to fight back and find innovative ways to make money on their sites – all while trying not to fall apart like MySpace.

Facebook Overtakes Google in Traffic

Posted on 17. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments

facebooklogo Facebook Overtakes Google in Traffic For as long as Google has been around, it has been a very popular site and as long as I can remember it has been the top ranking site in the world. That’s no surprise seeing as how they offer the best search functionality of any engine out there. Most people need a starting point when they are on the web, and search is the way to go for that.

But Facebook has been coming up in Google’s rearview mirror, and according to Hitwise, has overtaken Google as the most heavily trafficked site on the web (albeit slightly). Take a look at the following graph:

facebookgoogle Facebook Overtakes Google in Traffic

You can see that Facebook a year ago was not even close to comparing to Google’s share of traffic. Now the two together combine for over 14% of total web traffic.

But the search engine giant has been eclipsed before. According to Google Blogoscoped, MySpace passed by Google for a time in 2007. I know that’s hard to believe now seeing as how MySpace has been on a path of decline, but this tidbit is interesting to note because many MySpace users have migrated to Facebook, resulting in a slow exodus that has resulted in the traffic trend that we are seeing today.

Keep in mind that this is Facebook versus Google’s main search page, not the plethora of other services that Google offers like Gmail, Maps and Docs. I also wonder how much of a factor the recent introduction of Google’s real time search feature has contributed to the inflow of internet users to Facebook – many of them signing up and becoming regular users of the site.