Report on Google

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Google has developed into an integrated technology company from a
search engine that was initially and which constitutes its core business. In
this context, a huge list of available and under development Google
products exists, making the company a top provider of products/ services
in a series of different fields.
Since

Google

is

having

an

extensive

products/

services

portfolio

addressing different target markets and needs, the list of indirect and
direct competitors that it has to deal with seems endless. In order to
properly address the competitors and continue to preserve a top position
in many market fields, Google needs to do what it practically does so far,
i.e. continuously developing new market niches in established markets.
As such, it would be important for Google to continuously invest in fields
its already operating by providing new products for a significant number
of customers. By further addressing the automotive industry with more
specialized and state-of-the-art technologies, by giving an emphasis on
new devices (e.g. wearable technologies) and new communications
technologies (e.g. fiber cables), the company shall be able to maintain its
leading position but also prevail in the long term and gain a sustainable
competitive advantage.

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Table of Contents
COMPANY
BACKGROUND .......................................................................................
1. ...........
Organizational
structure ...........................................................................................
1.1 ..
Product
Portfolio .............................................................................................
1.2 ............
SWOT
Analysis .............................................................................................
1.3 ................
MARKET
ANALYSIS .................................................................................................
2. .............
Competitor
Analysis .............................................................................................
2.1 .......

4
4
5
5
6
6

Benchmarking .........................................................................................
............................
6
Indirect
Competitors.............................................................................................
..............
6
Direct Competitors Resources/
capabilities ....................................................................
Branding &
Positioning .........................................................................................
2.2 .......
Segmentation/
Targeting .........................................................................................
2.3 .
STRATEGIC
CHOICES ...............................................................................................
3. ..........
Ansoff
Matrix ..............................................................................................
3.1 ...............
New Product
development ........................................................................................
......
PEST
Analysis ..........................................................................................
3.2 ...................
3.3
4.

7
9
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
3

Opportunities .................................................................................. 1
..........................
4

CONCLUSIONS
1
RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................ 5

5.

REFERENCES .......................................................................................... 1
............................
7

6.

APPENDICES .......................................................................................... 2
............................
0

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1. COMPANY BACKGROUND
1.1 Organizational structure
Google has developed into the top search engine and a technologically
advanced company providing systematic professional services in a series
of technological fields. Google, in less than 20 years, has become a
reputed firm employing more than 40.000 employees (Google, 2014) and
a significant career target for a series of professionals. Such a number of
employees and a constantly developing firm require for an efficient
organizational

chart

that

encompasses

all

the

roles

and

secures

effectiveness in decision making.

The firm is broadly organized in 3 levels, the administrative level
professionals,

the

executive

level

officials

and

the

operational

professionals. Companys chart is provided below; the highest position is

given at the top while the lowest one is at the end.

Figure 1: Google Company Structure (hierarchystructure.com, 2013)

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1.2 Product Portfolio

Google has developed into an integrated technology company from a
search engine that was initially (Carlson, 2014) and which constitutes its
core business. As such a broad list of available and under development
Google products has occurred leading to the consideration that the
company is providing holistic technological services and products; in
Appendix 1 one can see that Google is a search engine, a suite of
applications, a storage choice, a smartphone operating system, a
computer provider, a self-driving cars provider, etc.
1.3 SWOT Analysis
In order to critically evaluate Googles external and internal environment
the SWOT framework (Humphrey, 2005), is a useful tool to understand
where the company stands.
The figure below illustrates Googles Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats
(Major Sources: (Google, 2014), (McCue, 2013), (Bhatia, Deep, &
Sachdeva, 2012)).

Figure 2: Googles SWOT Analysis

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2. MARKET ANALYSIS
2.1 Competitor Analysis
Benchmarking
As defined (Douglas & Morgan, 2005) Benchmarking is appropriate for
identifying and enhancing valuable marketing capabilities. In this
context, Google brings the following to a fierce competition:
A state of the art search engine and innovativeness in an extensive
product/ services portfolio.
A constant investment and spending on infrastructure and on new
technological solutions.
A think out of the box rationale.
Focus on resources (i.e. employees, infrastructure, etc.) that provide
a competitive edge, i.e. resources that are beneficial, rare, complex
making it difficult for competitors to imitate by developing the
overall firms value (Barney, 1991).
Indirect Competitors
Indirect competition is stealth competition; its actually about a product/
service that can satisfy the same need in a different way that the
company provides. As such, if one looks at Google search engine, for
example, it would identify a series of indirect competitors. Facebook is an
indirect competitor in this field; via its Graph search option it is indirectly
entering Google's field. Moreover, Wolfram Alpha, although having a
totally different rationale providing computational knowledge info, is also
an indirect competitor as its core rationale is being on the search
business.

Indirect competition leads practically to an extended list of alternatives

covering the needs that Google addresses. Amazon can also be an indirect
competitor when it comes to Google

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Scholar, for example. In addition, a provider of a hardcopy of an

encyclopedia is also an indirect competitor to Google. The company,
concerning this part, is and needs to constantly concentrate in new
market niches in order to prevail against indirect competitors.
Direct Competitors Resources/ capabilities
Since

Google

is

having

an

extensive

products/

services

portfolio

addressing different target markets and needs, the list of direct

competitors seems endless. Taking this into consideration, the focus shall
be on major competitors per market where the company is having a
dynamic presence (e.g. search engines, mobile operating systems, etc.).
The idea is to spot direct competitors and consider their main resources/
capabilities that Google needs to properly address so as to be in a leading
position.
Company

Yahoo

Main resources/
capabilities

Market Field

Search engine
Advertising services

Applications

A strong brand trusted and

visited
by
than 700 million
more
people
around the world (Thompson,
2012)
Policy on acquiring promising
start

ups;
engagin
focus
on hiring/
g
talented people (Williams &
Perez,

Internet Access

Microsoft

Communication tools

2014)
Large mail subscriber
base

Search engine

Advertising services

Long tradition has created

brand
loyalty

Acquisition

of trending
companies

a
having n

Applications

Internet Access

establish
ed

leading

market share (e.g.

Skype)
Strong distribution channels
globally
Significant cash
reserves

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Company

Main resources/
capabilities

Market Field
Operating systems
Hardware
Communication

&

publishing tools

Apple

Hardware/ Software

Mobiles

marketi
Innovative
ng
and
promotional
capabilities
Stron
g
distribution channels
especially in the US

Digital distribution

Established brand
loyalty
Vertical integration in
its
products
addressing loyal Apple
customers
Samsung

Mobile devices

Wide product range offering

qualit product
High y
s
awarded
various quality prizes

Oracle

Technology services

Hosts a wide scale of

specialized
projects providing the
technological

base for development

inorganic growth strategy
supported
by a charismatic leader
(Dudovskiy,
2012
)
TripAdvisor

Specialized search
tools

Well established with open

and

accessible reviews
Trusted website by a
significant
number of travellers

In order to address the above named competitors Google needs to do

what it practically does so far, i.e. continuously developing new market
niches in established markets. Niche

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marketing is extremely cost-effective and meets customers constantly

changing unique needs. Google has incorporated this philosophy from its
beginning and managed to prevail so far. It is characteristic that back in
1998 the search engine market was considered saturated and dominated
by Yahoo and the promising Altavista; at that time Google managed to
enter and dominate the market with its simplicity and to-the-point
addressing of customer needs.
2.2 Branding & Positioning
Branding helps firms to determine who they are and communicate about
it. Branding practically develops as the company develops and expands.
Google, with its branding constantly evolving, has gained a top position as
a world top brand. Several characteristics can be spotted defining Google
successful branding:
Visual company - Google uses a lot pictures to promote its product,
while its splash projects (e.g. the self-driving car) create a visual
impression before entering the market.
Focus on design Elegancy in design of applications and web is
Googles characteristic.
Constant interaction Simplicity in every companys product
supports interaction and positive feedback.
Stay in the heart of the news huge promotion in press keeps the
company in everyones minds.
Strong presence in multimedia
Influencing of influential groups the term Google it instead of
search it over the
Internet hasnt accidentally occurred.

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Being aggressive in world markets and markets way different than

the core business
Positioning refers to where the company stands in relevance to
competitors; in other words, it describes what the company is better at
than others. As such google, in the search engines field, holds the leading
position due to its simplicity, i.e. it actually shares the passions of its
customers by providing solutions to the worlds problems - from the
everyday to the epic, from the mundane to the monumental (Google,
2014).
2.3 Segmentation/ Targeting
The following table provides the market segments that the company is
mainly targeting based on companys evidence and nature of business.
Segment

Targeting

Office workers (through applications, mobile

devices,
etc.)
Characteristics: High technology
awareness, mentality
that everything is achievable (Sherry &
Hans Anton,

2011), confidence, impatience, anxiety.

Students (through applications, mobile
devices, etc.)
Characteristics: High technology
awareness, seeking

for simplicity, impatience.

All age ranges familiar with or willing to
explore the
Internet and new technologies

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3. STRATEGIC CHOICES
3.1 Ansoff Matrix
Companys scope and positioning as well as the nature of the business
demand for a constantly developing marketing strategy so as not to
remain stagnant, which would be devastating for Googles prosperity.
More specifically, Google should focus on addressing changing needs
constantly. In order to properly decide what kind of growth strategy should

New Markets

Existing Markets

be pursued by Google Ansoff Matrix (Ansoff, 1957) is examined.

Existing Products
Products

New

Market
Penetratio
n

Product
developme
nt

Market
developme
nt

Diversificati
on

Figure 3: Ansoff Matrix

The strategic alternatives for Google are, according to the above figure,
the following:

Market Penetration: In market penetration the firm is looking to

increase its market share with the products it already provides to
the markets it already operates. Its a low risk strategy.

Market development: Existing products are provided into new

markets in other countries or in different market segments.

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Product Development: New products are developed to meet

changing needs in existing markets.
Diversification: New products are provided to new markets. A firm
uses customer awareness on its brand so as to develop new
products that meet different needs.
New Product development
Considering the case of Google it would seem more appropriate of a new
product development strategy to be adopted from now on. Considering
products such as google glasses or the self-driving car it seems that the
company, so far has being following a diversification strategy by providing
new products to target groups of different market segments than what the
core business was addressing.
The company seems to have opened a lot of operational fields that
havent been explored adequately. In order to increase its market share in
these fields, to enhance brands strength and to manage costs effectively
it seems appropriate to follow the new product development strategy. The
self driving car, for example, is introducing the company to another
fierce competitive environment, i.e. the automotive industry. Considering
the

industrys

technical

requirements,

the

security

issues,

the

technological advancements, etc. it would be wise for Google to further

invest in this field by providing new products for a large and quite
remunerative customers group.

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3.2 PEST Analysis

Having in mind the proposed strategy provided above the following
external factors define the companys macro-environment and their
impact on new product development (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington,
2010).

PEST Analysis
Global urbanization is the trend in the recent
1. years.
Authorities (EU,
Departmen
2. US
t
of Justice, Chinese
Political/Leg
Government, etc.) put pressure on censoring
al
search results
3. Increasing laws on privacy and freedoms.
Digital information is vulnerable to copyright
4. issues.

Economic

Global economic power changes hands, from

1. developed to
developing
countries.
Growth economies are changing from centers of
2. labor to
consumption-oriented
societies.
Global economic recession is still present having
3. negative
results in Internet-based advertisements.
Increasingly connected world through the Internet
1. requesting

Social/
Environment
al

for relevant support platforms.

Global trend towards an ageing population leading
2. to a
limited number of human resources available
Stakeholders require for respect to privacy and
3. personal
freedom.

Technologic
al

Serious
place, ranging
1. developments
are taking
from
nanotechnology to robotics, opening up new
market
opportunities.

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3.3 Opportunities
Considering that the new product development approach is to be adopted
and the SWOT Analysis on the company, a SWOT/TOWS (Weihrich, 1982)
Analysis could be formed in order to gain an insight on where the
company could focus in order to further develop and expand on existing
opportunities.

Opportunitie
Threats
s (O)
(T)
Consumer constant
competiti

s
ly
asking
Fierce
on

Strengths (S)

Open source provider

Focus on customer
high
quality

Top financial position

Access to a large
group of
customers globally

Patents portfolio

Holistic solutions
Continuous
development innovation

Weaknesses (W)

from
player
s

for new hi-tech products

other
major
devices are

(Microsoft, Apple, etc.)

Mobile
constantly
gaining bigger market share
Strict EU antitrust laws
Acces
throug
Simila

s
to patents
h
r
free open source
acquisitio
produc
ns
ts
are constantly
Electronic cars are gaining

a
developing
bigger market share to
the
wider
public
Fiber cables are on their

way to
develo
p
S-T
S-O Strategy
Strategy
Differentiation to
1.
Focus on the next step 1.
avoid
direc competiti
and
through acquiring a firm or
t
on
create
new market
developing new technology.
niches
Constan developm
2.
Emphasis on wearable 2.
t
ent
and acquisition of
computers, mobiles, etc.
promising start
ups to preserve the
3.
Acquiring of a large
leading
automotive firm to further
enhance
position
Emphasis on the
electronic cars
3.
notion
Development of
that open source products
4.
patents
can
ne
on fibre cables technology
lead to
w
profitable
developme
nts
W-O
Strategy
W-T Strategy

Relies mainly on
online

advertising
Some of its products add
little

investmen
t
on 1.
Realistic approach
toward providin differentiat
other sources of income
s
g
ed
products that address new
2. ABC Analysis on all current needs
an
under development and facilitate peoples
d
products/ lives
1.

Furth
er

value to business
Litigations (e.g. with EU
on
services
patents) lead to costly and
Heav investment
time
3.
y
on
consuming results
and hiring of legal experts

PR

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4. CONCLUSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS

Google has managed to become a global leader in less than 20 years.

Considering its course so far, one would consider that the company has
probably reached the highest point to be reached and there is no field for
further improvement or development. However, the company, through its
simplicity philosophy, is constant seeking for development and its
expansion to other market fields, has managed to have an impressive and
continuous development.

In order to deal with indirect stealth competition and a fierce direct

competition, Google needs to evolve into providing new products to
existing markets. Google glasses or the self-driving car are at this
direction; some further recommendations that occurred from the analysis
given above could concern the following:

More dynamic entering into the automotive industry: In order to gain

valuable know-how and manage to successfully combine state of
the art self-driving technology with mechanical excellence an
acquisition of a traditional automotive firm could be considered.
Emphasis on the next level of devices: Wearable technologies seem
to be, at the moment, the Question mark in their course to
becoming the next Star products if one considers the BCG Matrix
(Henderson, 1970). A low market share seems not promising at the
moment, but high growth markets secure a profitable future.

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Fiber cables technology is the next step on communications.

Google, on the other hand, is providing a huge investment on R&D
or on acquiring promising start-ups. Having made the first steps on
fiber optic cable deployment methods (Smolaks, 2012), it would be
wise for the company to further invest on this technology through
heavy investment.

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5. REFERENCES
Robinson, S., & Stubberud,H. (2011). Student communication preferences
for work/school and social purposes. Academy of Educational Leadership
Journal, 16(1), 55-57.
Ansoff, I. (1957). Strategies for Diversification. Harvard Business Review,
35(Sep-Oct), 113-124.
Barney,

J.

B.

(1991).

Firm

Resources

And

Sustained

Competitive

Advantage. Journal Of Management, 17(1), 99-120.

Bhatia, A., Deep, G., & Sachdeva, A. (2012). Strategic Analysis of Serach
Engine Giant: A case study of Google Inc. International Journal of
Computing & Business Research, I, 1-13.
Carlson, N. (2014). A List Of Products Larry Page Has Google Working On
Other Than Search, Such As Spoons. Retrieved December 30, 2014,
from http://www.businessinsider.com/a-list-of-google-products-20149
Douglas, W. V., & Morgan, N. A. (2005). Benchmarking marketing
capabilities for sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of
Marketing, 69, 80-94.
Dudovskiy, J. (2012). Oracle SWOT Analysis. Retrieved December 31,
2014, from http://research-methodology.net/oracle-swot-analysis/

Google. (2014). Google Company. Retrieved December 30, 2014, from

http://www.google.com/about/company/facts/

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Report on Google

Google. (2014). Google Investor Relations. Retrieved December 30, 2014,

from http://investor.google.com/
Google. (2014). Marketing & Communications. Retrieved December 31,
2014, from http://www.google.gr/about/careers/teams/markcomm/
Henderson, B. (1970). The Product Portfolio. Retrieved January 1, 2014,
from
https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/Classics/strategy_the_pro
duct_portfolio
/
hierarchystructure.com. (2013). Google Company Hierarchy. Retrieved
December

30,

2014,

from

http://www.hierarchystructure.com/google-company-hierarchy/
Humphrey, A. (2005). SWOT Analysis for Management Consulting. SRI
International, 2-4.
Johnson, G., Scholes, K., & Whittington, R. (2010). Exploring Corporate
Strategy (8th Edition ed.). Prentice Hall.
McCue, T. J. (2013). Apple #1, Google #2 - 50 Innovative Companies
Ranked By 1,500 Execs. Retrieved December 30, 2014, from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2013/01/10/apple-1-google-2/
Smolaks, M. (2012). Google To Patent Fibre Optic Cable Deployment
Method.

Retrieved

January

1,

2014,

from

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/workspace/google-to-patent-fibreoptic-cable-deployment-method-63776
Thompson, S. (2012). Yahoos Competitive Advantage Is Its Data.
Retrieved

December

31,

2014,

from

http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/04/thompson-yahoo-competitiveadvantage-data/

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Weihrich, H. (1982). The TOWS Matrix -- A Tool for Situational Analysis.

Long Range Planning, 15(2), 54-66.
Wikipedia. (2014). List of Google products. Retrieved December 30, 2014,
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products
Williams, S., & Perez, M. (2014). Yahoos acquisition strategy is actually a
talent strategy. Retrieved December 31, 2014, from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/yahoosacquisition-strategy-is-actually-a-talentstrategy/2014/07/03/d8bb72fc-0070-11e4-8fd03a663dfa68ac_story.html

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6. APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Googles Product Portfolio
(Wikipedia, 2014)

Search tools

Google Search
Encrypted Search
Author Rank
Google Alerts
Google Books
Google Custom Search
Experimental Search
Google Finance
Google Groups
Google Hotel Finder
Google Flight Search
Google Image Search
Language Tools
Life Search
Movies
Google News
Google News archive
Google Patent Search
Google Scholar
Google Shopping
Google Video
Voice Local Search
Web History
Knowledge Graph
Google Trader
Zagat

Advertising services
AdMob for Android, iOS and Windows
Phone 8
Google AdSense
Google Ad Planner
Google AdWords
Adwords Express
Google Certification Program
DoubleClick
Google Grants
Google Think Insights
Wildfire by Google
Communication and publishing tools

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Google Cultural Institute

Google Art Project
Feed Burner
Google Keep
Google 3D Warehouse
Google Apps
Google Bookmarks
Boutiques.com
Google Business Solutions
Google Calendar
Google Docs
Google Drive
Google Hangouts
Google
Gmail
Google Inbox
Goo.gl
Google+
Panoramio
Picasa Web Albums
Google profile
Google Sites (was Jotspot)
SMS Channels (Google India
only)
Speak To Tweet
Google Voice (United States
only)
Google Fonts.
YouTube
Google Ventures
Google Classroom

Development tools

AngularJS
Google App Engine
Google Developers
Dart
Go
(programming
language)
OpenSocial
PageSpeed
Google Swiffy
Google Web Toolkit
Webmaster Tools
Translator Toolkit

Security tools
reCAPTCHA

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Map-related products

Google
Google
Google
Google
Google
Google
Google
Google
Zygote

Map Maker
Maps
My Maps
Maps Gallery
Mars
Moon
Sky
Transit
Body

Statistical tools
Google Analytics
Google
Consumer
Surveys
Google Correlate
Freebase
Google Fusion Tables
Google
Public
Data
Explorer
Trendalyzer
Google Trends
Zeitgeist
Google Activity Report
Operating systems

Android
Chrome OS
Google TV
Android Wear
Android Auto
Android TV

Desktop applications

AdWords Editor
Google Chrome
Google Earth
IME
Google Japanese Input
Picasa
Picasa
Web
Albums
Uploader
Google Pinyin
Quick Search Box
Wireless access VPN
Google Toolbar
Visigami

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Android Studio
Google Web Designer
Mobile applications

Blogger Mobile
Google Calendar
Drive
Gmail
Google Keep
Google Maps
Maps
Navigation

Android
Mobilizer
Google News
Google Offers
Orkut
Google+
Picasa Web
Google Product Search
Google Search
Google
Search
for
Android
Google Wallet
Google Currents
Google Translate
YouTube

Mobile standalone
applications

Books
Gmail
Catalogs
Drive
Google Keep
Google Goggles
Listen.
Maps
Google Music
Google Play Newsstand
One Today
Shopper
Sky Map
Google Sync
Talk VoIP
Hangouts
Translate
Google Voice app
Yinyue (Music) (Google
China)
YouTube

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YouTube Remote
Google Now
Google+
Field Trip
Waze

Hardware
Google
Search
Appliance
Google
driverless
car
Nexus One
Nexus S
Galaxy Nexus
Google TV
Nexus Q
Nexus 7
Nexus 4
Nexus 5
Nexus 6
Nexus 9
Nexus 10
Nexus Player
Chromebook
Chromebook Pixel
Chromebox
Chromecast
Google Glass
Google
Contact
Lens
Services
Google
Crisis
Response
Google Fiber
Google Public DNS
Google Ideas
Google
Person
Finder

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