

Eric Schmidt wants to set the record straight - ssclafani
http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2011/01/27/schmidt-on-google-facebook-and-apple/

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jacquesm
I think people are really waiting to see what Larry Page will have to say in
his capacity as CEO. Maybe that will really set the record straight, Schmidt
has a habit of saying lots of words without moving the needle.

That's actually a good trait in a publicly traded company, the few times that
he said stuff that bit it didn't do google much good.

Facebook, Apple, Google, Yahoo, AOL and every other media or media related
company are all in competition with each other to some extent. The arena of
choice for now is 'mobile' and whoever hits the ball out of the park will be
around for a long long time. For now it looks as though Apple has the lead,
Google is playing catch-up, Facebook is still a wannabe but very well
positioned, Yahoo and AOL have dropped the ball. Microsoft is - interestingly
enough given their history - in the position of a very distant underdog but I
wouldn't count them out.

Time will tell.

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megaduck
How is Google playing catch-up? Android is the clear market share leader, and
is still accelerating.

According to Google's most recent numbers, Android is shipping 300,000 devices
_per day_. While Apple has a lot of mindshare, the reality is that they're in
a solid #2 position in the US, and #3 worldwide.

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othermaciej
iOS is reportedly shiping on 360,000 per day:

[http://www.macrumors.com/2011/01/19/highlights-of-
apples-1q-...](http://www.macrumors.com/2011/01/19/highlights-of-
apples-1q-2011-conference-call/)

That would be a greater number than 300,000.

If you look at browser traffic share, either iOS has a much larger installed
base, or Android users surf the Web a lot less.

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mjuhl24
It's interesting that he downplayed the idea that Google is competing with
Apple and Facebook. Does this show that most of the Google/Apple competition
is fabricated by the respective fanboys?

~~~
RickHull
One major area Google competes with Facebook is for talent.

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powrtoch
"They managed to build an elegant, scalable, closed system. Google is
attempting to do something with a completely different approach."

Surprised he didn't want to clarify that...

~~~
edge17
If you're familiar with both ecosystems, there's nothing to clarify. Both
companies make a lot of money, Apple does so with an elegant closed system.
Google does so with a janky open system.

People love to argue about whats better; both of these companies win through
press and exposure every time that argument happens. They've managed to
recruit armies of people willing to go to battle for them at no cost.

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Charuru
_Facebook, on the other hand, "has clearly stated they don't want to get into
the search business. Facebook users tend to use Google search. Facebook's ads
business does not displace our advertising. I'm somewhat perplexed by the
obsession because I don't think the facts support it. Things are going great
for Google."_

I'm not sure if this means Google still doesn't 'get' social. But I'm very
disappointed to hear this...

~~~
r00fus
Either they don't get it, or their external message is all you're hearing.

If they're not worried about Facebook, they're silly. If Facebook reinvents
search (ie, search+trust-web = social search), Google just became Yahoo.

~~~
de90
"Social search" is only good for things like business recommendations, and
idle time activities (games).

Why would search of informative websites need to be influenced by what
friends\family like? Not saying Google doesn't need to vamp that up, but I
just don't see where Facebook has an edge on Google in the realm of
informative search.

~~~
zaidf
Business recommendation is where the money is in search.

Google doesn't make a lot of $ when you're researching for a paper.

