OK, Google isn’t actually going anywhere, but there were some huge changes to their structure announced on Monday. You can read Google CEO Larry Page’s blog about it here, but the general gist of it is that Google is being “slimmed down” of all the projects that are less related to their core internet business.
These projects are being separated into individual companies, and all (including Google) will be controlled by Alphabet, a newly created parent company. Each will have their own CEO chosen by Larry Page and Sergey Brin (the original founders of Google), and will be more focused on their individual business goals.
To get a better idea of what’s happening, here’s what Google’s structure used to look like:
And here’s how the new structure should look:
Who’s Who?
Nest is a company that builds smart home devices including smoke alarms, security cameras, and thermostats, all of which communicate with your phone.
Calico is currently working on a cure for death. Well, by that we mean they’re trying to increase the average life expectancy.
Sidewalk Labs is all about improving cities. Their website is pretty bare, so we’re not sure how they intend to do it.
Google X may sound like the name of Google’s evil counterpart, but it’s actually the name given to their “moonshots” division. They are working on projects such as Google Glass, Internet balloons, and other wacky inventions.
Fiber currently provides high-speed fibre optic to some cities in America.
Google Capital and Google Ventures are two distinct investment companies.
And of course, there’s Google, who will keep control of all of the Internet based aspects, as well as Android.
As you can see, some of these companies vary massively in terms of goals, so the new structure makes perfect sense. Before, their structure seemed a little messy, and Larry Page was in charge of juggling a lot of very different ventures. He will still be in charge of juggling these operations, but with the help of several more focused CEOs.
How does this change affect Google?
As mentioned above, Google is being slimmed down. Whilst some people have seemed a bit skeptical about this, we think it’s great. Under their new CEO Sundar Pichai, they are able to focus solely on Internet based operations, without the distraction of the other ventures. Google has always been very productive in terms of updates to its Internet operations, but this change could see them kick it into overdrive. Sundar is able to focus purely on improving the services they provide, including updates to search algorithms, development of new apps, and expanding their reach on Google Maps. The possibilities are very exciting. We could see huge changes in search engine optimisation techniques going forward, as well as exciting new developments for all of Google’s Apps.
So, looking back at the title of this article, is Google really dead? Fifteen don’t think so; we think this is just the beginning of big things to come. We’ll be watching Google even more closely now.