A company with an established worth of around $527 billion, and subsidiaries pushing 200, Google and its formal parent company, Alphabet, Inc., have reinvented the way that we see and use technology forever. We all know their power and their success, but what are the key factors behind what they do and how did they get to where they are today?
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Creativity
- Google is the most creative, innovative company that exists today. The argument goes on between Apple and Google and which is better.While Apple is still technically more valuable than Google, the intangible contributions of Google are, in my opinion, the most valuable innovations and inventions of modern society. The collective creative genius that is instilled into their culture has yielded results and products that were essentially deemed impossible 20 years ago.
Acquisitions
- As I mentioned earlier, Google has nearly 200 companies under its umbrella. With many of the larger ones – Android, Youtube, and DoubleClick marketing – Google’s reach expands broader than the naked eye can see. Their influence isn’t only in the search engine and marketing atmosphere, but they’re also manufacturing devices and innovating products in an effort to create what’s never been created.
Care for employees
- Google is notorious for what it offers to its employees. The benefits are never-ending. If you’re a Google employee and you pass away, your spouse receives half of your salary for the next 10 years and your kids receive $1,000/month until they’re 19; free gourmet food and snacks at all times (maybe I should have said this one first); free fitness and gym classes; time off and bonuses when you have a child; 20 percent of the time at work can be spent pursuing a special passion; on-site doctors in case you have a problem; and free haircuts – just to name a few. The amenities are limitless. You can now easily understand why they were ranked the number one place to work by Fortune magazine this year.
Shifting products to users’ needs
- They have an acute attention to the changing needs of the user. Google pays attention. And what they’ve done lately is give us exactly what we’re curious about. There’s been a surge in web analytics – how much traffic is going to my site? How many people are seeing my posts? How many are reacting to it? And everything else surrounding this market. Cue Google Analytics. This feature allows you to increase your site’s traffic, improve engagement, and better your product or service. This feature has altered the way that we think about the internet and how much information we can derive from the features of a search engine.
Simplicity
- If you ask anyone what they love about Google, their response will be, “It’s easy to use.” Google has kept its main page so simple that anyone can do it for the entirety of their existence. This simplicity isn’t only what makes them so successful, it’s what separates them from the competition. They have great, backed-up results that are amazingly consistent. Google knows what to do and how to do it.