Tough week for Google

I’ve been wondering for a while how much longer everyone’s favorite web company was going to be able to retain their midas touch.

It seemed that the last quarter of 2005, like much of the rest of that year, Google could do no wrong. Every new product release was received with much jubilation and claims that Google was forging the new frontiers of the internet. I have to wonder though, if upon reflection we will find that we were all under the influence of some sort of “Google fever.” It felt like the old days again, the possibilities of what could be done online seemed limitless! But once the fever breaks, how amazing is their product lineup really? Google Talk? It’s basically a more plain-jane IM client lacking many of the fun features of the big players in IM. Google Pack? Their claim is that it contains “a free collection of essential software.” More like a free collection of useless stuff. There is no cohesion between the pieces, and who the hell wants Real Player on their system?

Now that said, I actually do believe that Google puts out some really great products. After all, I have been part of the throng of Google groupies exclaiming their majesty at every release. Google Local has been a huge help a number of times and I remain an avid user of Google Earth and Google Desktop. But it seems that their overall vision (if there ever was one) may be slipping a bit.

Two stories today are making it obvious that not everything is sunshine and rainbows out of Mountain View. First, Google announced that they would be doing business in China and had decided to play by the Chinese government’s rules that require internet search engines to censor results. This has been a long time in the coming, and though it violates their old “don’t be evil” motto, it was probably inevitable. Microsoft and Yahoo are both in China already and when your two biggest competitors are doing business in the world’s second largest economy what are you going to do, not join in? The web lit up at this announcement anyway, and Google’s headquarters received what was probably their first protest as a result. Of course I think it’s wrong that if you do searches on human rights and the Dalai Lama using Google.cn from within China your results get filtered. But like I said, it was only a matter of time before the pressure was too great and they had to go in. To do business in China you have to play by their rules.

In addition to all the bad press about censored searches, the big G has also had to face the truth this week about their new online video store venture. While I’m definitely a fan of some of the nifty features of the new Google video site, you’ve got to admit that going to Google’s video store after hanging out in the iTunes Music Store’s video section is like driving into a bad neighborhood. There’s probably some good deals to be had but you’re going to keep your doors locked while you are there. Also, Apple is continuing to pull ahead in this space by adding a plethora of new shows available for purchase soon.

I don’t doubt that this is just a bump in the road for Google. And it’s almost a relief that they get a little bad press after the unbelievable amount of praise that has been lauded on them for so long. But if they really want to capture the imaginations of everyone again, it’s time to start revealing a master plan. Bring all this work together into a sigular vision and they will have devotees for life. I’m sure they can do it with all those PhDs wandering around the Googleplex.