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While everyone talks about Google's market dominance and how it's taken over the world (naturally, because it's good at what it does), most forget that like any business, Google has made erroneous decisions as a company from time to time. PC World explores these flubs, flops, and failures in an article that proves to be a very informative read.
Some examples of Google mishaps include Google X (a homage to Mac OS X which mysteriously disappeared after a single day of being public), Google Video Player, Google Catalog, Google Web Accelerator, Google Answers, Google Coupons, Google Voice Search, Google Viewer, Google Checkout (especially related to a party-crashing incident), and Orkut (at least in the US).
The question is: do you guys really remember most of these? Probably not. With success will ultimately come failure, but you can certainly gain from learning what works and what doesn't.
Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.
Comments:
ram
05/22/2008 06:47 pm
fyi, google checkout is alive and well :) they have had to invest a *lot* of money to buy into the market but they have signed up a large number of merchants.
Baron Turner
05/23/2008 08:26 am
I confirm! Google Checkout is superb - there are improvements they could make, but the other payment gateways could too. We use it on our eCom site and our customers like it. Two improvements they could make are: 1. Not require an account to process the payment and 2. To allow a repeat transaction.
Justin Seibert
05/23/2008 07:30 pm
It's amazing to me that Google still has the #1 brand in the world (http://www.millwardbrown.com/Sites/Optimor/Media/Pdfs/en/BrandZ/BrandZ-2008-PressRelease.pdf). They have so far been able to overcome awful customer service for AdWords (unless you have a dedicated Googler) and the fact that they have the ability to become a real 1984 Big Brother with your search history, Google Analytics, Google Health.... I think it's a real testament to how they've handled their brand and embraced the concept of joining the conversation through allowing / requiring employees to discuss their company on the Internet.
algoritz
03/26/2013 06:07 pm
Ii used to think, why are some sites Page Ranking high when there isn’t even any content on them, only Ad links? And therefore got quite angry with Google, but as you say it is what it is, and at the end of the day they can do what they want and if you don’t like it, leave it! I’ve calmed down since and just do my own thing concentrating on writing and enjoying my work. Thanks,,,, Thamar. by Seo Services