Ask any top executive at Google and they will tell you that first and foremost they are an advertising company first and foremost. It’s how they make their money and technology just facilitates that. Tomorrow Google will host yet another spectacular product launch where they tell the world about their new payment system for mobile phones. They’ve teamed up with Mastercard and Citi Bank to offer consumers the ability to pay without any physical cash. It could be a huge move but it feels like Google is launching something new in a different market every single day of the week these days and I wanted to ask if maybe they were spreading themselves a little thin at this stage? They do have over 20,000 people working for them, a share price to drive higher and large companies should always innovate but if you look at the size and skill of the companies they are taking on you might worry a little bit.

Google Versus Apple

One of the biggest battles in tech at the moment is the battle of IOS versus the Android operating systems. This is a battle that not only touches mobiles but will also extend in to the tablet world as they start to grow in popularity. Google is all about openness whereas Apple has their closed platform that people absolutely love. Google have made stunning inroads in to this space but keeping up with Apple and making sure Android continues to grow and not fragment going forward is going to be tough and take a lot of resources.The rewards for owning the biggest mobile platforms are of course huge and this is one area where Google are being smart because it’s somewhere that they can wedge their core product of search in to the hugely unexploited mobile sector and make large scale revenues going forward. When you are up against Apple things are never going to be easy though.

Google Versus Facebook

Probably one of the most talked about topics on this blog and one that we think will shape the future of search. Facebook is starting to gather a ton of information with people clicking on 1 billion like buttons per day and that information is going to help search in a major way in the future.Make no mistake about it Google is under attack in the very core of it’s revenue stream and if Facebook and Bing can start to eat in to that Google might regret trying to take on all the other areas. The one huge advantage that Facebook have here is that they are 100% focused on social and nothing but that whereas Google have so many other battles to fight and are very much playing catch up.

Google Versus Microsoft

These 2 tech giants have been in battle for some time now especially when it comes to search with Bing starting to eat in to some of Google’s market share and offer up some real innovation in the form of social search within Bing results. Only last week Google made one of the biggest boldest moves to try and go after Microsoft’s core business of computer operating systems with the launch of their Chromebooks. It was a bold move and one that may well work in the long term but taking on the might of Microsoft and their 2 billion operating systems around the world is not something that can be done easily. I’d give Google a good chance in the long run if they put everybody within the company on to this but the fact is Chrome Operating system is only one small division within Google.

Google Versus The Carriers

Google Voice is starting to get some momentum and even though it is still USA based there is going to come a stage where it comes down to a straight battle with the carriers. Plenty of people say that Google don’t want to fight that battle (the carriers would all be some of Google’s biggest customers in terms of buying ads) but the simple fact is that if they continue to offer free calls and a better service than the carriers as well as getting in to millions of consumers hands via Android this is a battle that is just waiting to happen. Google have also made plenty of moves like trying to sell their own phone direct (Nexus S) and offering free WIFI etc to show that they have enough intention to believe they could take the carriers on one day and own the space.

Google Versus Everything Else

Google maps is up against multiple competitors. Yelp is taking on Google (Google even tried to buy Yelp last year) in reviews and local listings. Google have their own Chrome browser which has to complete against the likes of Firefox and constantly keep improving. Google are also trying to launch music streaming services, Gmail, Google Apps and 100s of other products. All of these things take time and resources and you really have to wonder just how thin Google is spreading itself. With the new payments service launching tomorrow that is yet another battle for Google to fight. You can’t argue with their results to date but you do have to wonder with the type of people that Google are taking on now are they going to realize they have spread themselves way too thin at some time in the near future or do they have the strategy just right?

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