谷歌急需震驚世界的新產品

????谷歌公司（Google）最近一次讓世界眩暈是什么時候？

????到今年夏天，谷歌（Google）就將迎來自己14歲的生日。谷歌的發展史上充滿了令互聯網產業震驚的時刻——谷歌的公司網站對其中大多數成就都有所提及。谷歌的創潮之流肇始于2000年，當時谷歌的搜索引擎成為全球的巨無霸。而“關鍵詞廣告”（AdWords）和“內容廣告”（Adsense）雖然對消費者來說不那么直觀，卻同樣是對業界影響深遠的創新之作。數年來，谷歌推出、收購了其他眾多富有特色的產品：谷歌新聞、谷歌地球、谷歌語音、谷歌圖書、谷歌翻譯以及Blogger和YouTube網站。正是它們為互聯網的創新設定了至高標準。就算是像“書籍詞頻統計器”（Ngram Viewer）和“自動駕駛汽車”（self-driving cars）這些對增加廣告收入沒什么實際作用的特色產品，也會讓人愿意花上大把時間去了解它們背后包含的大量信息。

????谷歌于2010年年末發布的Ngram能讓用戶直觀地看到各種關鍵概念的興衰起落。但自從它問世，谷歌就再沒有真正推出一款讓世界驚嘆、讓世人熱議的產品。過去一年多來，谷歌推出的產品都是模仿其他公司已發明的產品。Google+可能試圖優化Facebook，但它大部分還是停留在山寨水平。而上周發布的Google Play，則像是蘋果公司（Apple）iTunes的復制版。

????而大多數谷歌業已推出有一段時間的產品也是這種情況。Google Offers看起來像是團購網站Groupon和LivingSocial旗鼓相當的競爭對手，但也僅此而已：它就是一個競爭者，在挑戰市場地位穩固的領導品牌。谷歌曾試圖收購Groupon，如果成功，就會使谷歌成為團購市場的領導者，但是遭到對方拒絕。于是現在，谷歌只不過是這個人頭攢動的市場中的眾多商家之一。

????谷歌目前在其他領域推出的新產品也只是模仿其他公司。憑借谷歌錢包，谷歌運用近場通訊技術（near-field communication）在移動支付市場稍許占得先機。但只有少數人能用上谷歌錢包，而Intuit公司、蘋果公司和Visa公司也正在開發能與之抗衡的應用。

????當然，利用互聯網已經成型的商業模式未必總是壞事。谷歌早年的成功來源于打造了一款更出色的搜索引擎。而谷歌文件則對微軟公司（Microsoft）的辦公軟件Office構成了顯著挑戰，迫使后者利用生產力軟件（productivity software）重新思考自己的戰略。但是像Google+、Offers以及最新推出的Play等產品則并沒有在與競爭對手的較量中占據明顯優勢?？雌饋?，它們更像是一家公司將手伸向多個新興市場，期望取得最大的斬獲。

????谷歌有充分的理由選擇這個發展方向。自擔任首席執行官以來，拉里?佩奇就已將公司的主要精力集中在核心產品上，減少了留給員工琢磨新創意的時間。去年夏天，佩奇關閉了谷歌實驗室。這個孵化器專為催生創意而設，但它常常更多地只是激發人們的好奇心，而不是帶來收入。谷歌取而代之的做法是，圍繞Google+的社交層（social layer），將其眾多深受歡迎的特色產品整合到一個新網站上。

????由于谷歌95%的營收還是來自于廣告（其他收入來自訂閱服務及像谷歌應用之類的產品），目前的工作重心合情合理。谷歌目前所做的，是將其由眾多服務和特色產品構成的龐大帝國——搜索、視頻、電子商務、移動應用及社交網絡——整合成一個更完整的資產。據稱，谷歌已經發現，就算用戶并未活躍地使用其Google+的個人檔案，它們仍能增加廣告的訪問率。

????When was the last time Google did something dazzling?

????For a company that turns 14 this summer, Google (GOOG) has a history thick with moments when it surprised the web -- many outlined on the company's site, starting in 2000, when its search engine became the world's largest. Adwords and Adsense were also innovations that, while less visible to consumers, had a significant impact. Through the years, Google unveiled or acquired other features that the set a high standard for innovation on the web: Google News, Earth, Voice, Books, Translate as well as Blogger and YouTube – even features like Ngram Viewer and self-driving cars that had no real potential for new ad revenue but that invited you to waste hours exploring the data they organized.

????But since Ngram, which appeared in late 2010 and allowed users to visualise the rise and fall of concepts, Google hasn't really unveiled a product that's wowed the world and gotten people talking. Over the past year or so, it's introduced products that replicate what other companies have innovated. Google+ may try to improve on Facebook, but it mostly copies it. Google Play, announced last week, seems like a knockoff of Apple's (AAPL) iTunes.

????And that's been the case with many of the features Google has been rolling out for a while. Google Offers looks like a viable competitor to Groupon (GRPN) and LivingSocial, but that's just it: it's a competitor to an established leader. Google tried to buy Groupon, which would have made Google the leader in the daily-deals market, but the company said no. So now Google is just one of many players in a crowded market.

????In other areas, Google is launching new features that echo what other companies are doing. With Google Wallet, Google had an early lead in the market for mobile payments using near-field communication. But Wallet was available to a small number of people, and companies like Intuit (INTU), Apple and Visa (V) are working on rival offerings.

????Of course, taking on established business models on the web isn't necessarily a bad thing. Google's early success came by building a better search engine. And Google Docs presented a significant challenge to Microsoft's (MSFT) Office, forcing the company to rethink its strategy with the productivity software. But initiatives like Google+, Offers and, most recently, Play don't dramatically improve on their rivals. They look more like a company sticking its fingers into a bunch of growing markets and hoping for the best.

????Google has good reasons for moving in this direction. Since becoming CEO, Larry Page has focused the company's efforts on core products, leaving employees with less time to fiddle around with new ideas. Last summer, Page shut down Google Labs, the incubator for innovative ideas that often generated more curiosity than revenue. Instead, Google worked on integrating its more popular features into a new site built around the Google+ social layer.

????Because 95% of Google's revenue still comes from ads (the rest is from subscriptions and things like Google Apps), that focus makes sense for now. Google is stitching its empire of services and features -- search, video, e-commerce, mobile and, yes, social -- into an integrated property. Google has reportedly seen that, even if people aren't actively using their Google+ profiles, they can still increase ad engagement rates.