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SEPTEMBER 5,2005 misinessweek.com
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How new medicines
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GOOGLE'S
GRAND AMBITIONS
Its lips are sealed, but its moves rattle
everyonefromMicrosoft to eBay
I
N YEARS PAST, MICROSOFT CORP. operating systems and e-commerce.
could freeze competitors and send Google faces serious challenges of
investors scurrying just by uttering course, not least because it is playing catch-
the name of a market it fancied. To- up in some of thesefields.But if the com-
day, Google Inc. is the 800-pound pany's outsize ambitions come to fruition,
octopus that is filling potential Google would suddenly be on a collision
rivals with dread and envy. course with some pretty heavy hitters. The
In typical Google fashion, the company company is already challenging Microsoft
chose an unusual moment—the sleepy and Yahoo! Inc. Now it seems to be get-
doldrums of mid-August—to shake up ting ready to stomp on the turf of such gi-
the tech world with aflurryof announce- ants as eBay, Motorola, Nokia, SBC Com-
ments. First, Google confirmed that it had munications, and Verizon. And if you're a
quietly acquired mobile-phone software tech startup working similar technologies
startup Android Inc. Then came the sur- as the savvy folks in the Googleplex, you
prising news that it would add $4 billion have two basic choices: Plan to be ac-
to its cash war chest with a secondary quired—or get run over. "There is a new
stock offering. And then on Aug. 24, the fear and caution about how Google will
search giant announced it was getting use its war chest," says Chris Shipley, pro-
into the instant messaging and Internet ducer of the DEMO Conference, where
telephony businesses. No wonder tech startups strut their stuff. lead of partnering with telecom giants.
watchers from Silicon Valley to Bangalore If the search behemoth goes ahead Google may be showing its hand in
are all wondering the same thing: What with its myriad initiatives, it will be this arena with a couple of little-noticed
the heck is Google up to? Google vs. Everyone. Here's a glimpse of business moves. In April, Google teamed
No point asking the Mountain View where Google may be headed: up with wireless startup Feeva Inc. to
(Calif.) company. Google, as usual, is GOOGLE VS. VERIZON Playing a role in sponsor a Wi-Fi hot zone in San Francis-
about as talkative as a telephone pole. But how consumers connect to the Net is an co (page 39) in which Google appears as
in dissecting the important step for the start page. Google says this is all part
company's spate of online giants. It of its mission to make access to informa-
recent hires, invest- helps deepen the tion more readily available, but it won't
ments, and acquisi- link between Web comment on other Wi-Fi moves. Some
tions you can catch surfers and Internet analysts, though, believe it would make
tantalizing glimpses companies while perfect sense for Google to bankroll Wi-Fi
of where the search providing a window access points, not only allowing Google to
giant could be head- for these outfits to get more users but also to target ads bet-
ed. Talk about ambi- showcase products ter locally—a huge growth area. "Google
tion. Google appears and services. Google wants there to be more search moments,"
to be contemplating clearly covets such a says Esme Vos, editor of the MuniWire-
forays into every- role, but it has less Weblog and a consultant to cities de-
thing from Wi-Fi In- shown no interest in ploying Wi-Fi solutions. "This would
ternet access and mimicking the ac- make a lot of sense."
mobile devices to cess businesses of Meanwhile, in July, Google invested in
other tech titans- Current Communications Group LLC, a
DEEPER POCKETS piling up millions
Page and Brin plan
company that offers broadband access
of subscribers like over power lines. The company has been
on having $4 billion
more to shop with America Online or rolling out its service to a few markets in
following Yahoo's the U.S., including Cincinnati. Verizon