Search News – Google’s Future

The end of August saw Google’s IPO (initial public offering) finally begin after several months of frenzied build-up! Google are auctioning around 10% of their company through the issue of 24.6 million shares to US investors only ‘ but it has not been an easy ride so far. Firstly, the unconventional approach to this public offering has alienated parts of Wall Street and then the run-up to the valuation was beset by further problems due to Google’s failure to register 30 million shares previously issued to staff and from an interview with the founders in Playboy magazine ‘ both of which contravened the rules for the sale.

More importantly, the initial share value was dropped just prior to the launch to $85 from an expected level of around $120 per share, but initial trading has pulled the level to $110 which values the company at around ’16bn. Not bad for a company that is only 6 years old!

So what does the future hold for Google? Most commentators are linking the company’s future with its ability to retain its unorthodox brand values throughout corporate enlargement and the introduction of new products. Google’s most recent high profile project is a free web based email system in beta testing called GMail, which aims to take on MSN’s and Yahoo’s free mail services and features a staggering 1GB of storage space plus search features to navigate through messages.

There will undoubtedly be increased pressures on Google from shareholders in the future and more stock may be issued as the pressures of the market take hold and the might of Microsoft comes into play next year when they launch their ‘integrated’ search function. Ultimately the success of Google will be dependent upon the quality of their search services in relation to competitors.

It remains to be seen whether in 10 years time (or even 5), the example of Google will be written about as a prime example of an online brand that continues to expand and dominate the markets that it enters, or one of a stunning corporate failure that resulted from a change in the corporate ethos in the face of rapidly changing commercial pressures. Just look at AltaVista as an example of the latter!

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