Google keeps on growing. While many companies bemoan revenue losses and poor results in 2008 and 2009, Google keeps new products flowing out the door and revenues continue to increase. New markets are being developed.
This Google revenue growth is powered by use of White Space, as CNN.com reported in "Gmail holds Graduations and Funerals." GMail labs is a White Space team that develops new applications and uses for Gmail. Its operating premise is that it should develop the products rapidly, then push into the market to get feedback. Then the team can determine what to modify and test further, what to push into the market as non-beta and what to kill. As recently demonstrated in the headlined behavior, Google is ready to keep some things and kill others based upon market feedback – not just what the internal people or analysts think.
- "This isn't the first time Gmail Labs has graduated and killed some test
features since Gmail Labs started in June 2008, but the event does
underscore an idea that Google says is key to its success as an
innovative company: Let people create products they'd use themselves,
get those products out to the public as soon as possible, and make
consumers think it's OK for things to break." - ""At Google, in general, the philosophy is to get things out quickly in
front of our users and not make huge promises," said Ari Leichtberg,
another Google engineer"
Nothing is more accurate than real market feedback, as readers of this blog have heard me say often. Scott Anthony of Innosight recently took up this mantra in a Harvard Business Review blog "How to Kill Innovation: Keep Asking Questions." He relates how a large company with a new idea kept asking "what if" questions about a new idea. Each piece of research led to more "what if" questions. With its massive resources, the company could keep asking and researching forever, never getting real market input and never getting the innovation to market.
In traditional companies, with a new product funnel and stage gate implementation process which can take years to run through, once something moves into the market the internal "champions" are so vested in the innovation they can't stand for it to fail. Far too often, if the innovation were to fail the champions would lose their jobs – or see their careers tank. Too much analysis causes too few ideas to make it to market, and causes the organization to overspend on the innovation that does. After launch market feedback is often ignored, or manipulated, to allow the innovation to be pushed harder and longer on the hopes that with "just a little more time and effort" it will succeed.
What keeps Google growing, and attracting top talent, is its willingness to use White Space. It is willing to develop ideas quickly and obtain real market feedback. Then decide what to keep, and what not to keep. Because it moves quickly, market input shapes the offering. Market input allows the company to see what people really use, and thus worthy of additional investment. Or what people don't use, and thus needs to be dropped before too much is sunk into the idea.
When Microsoft decided to add "clippy" to its products it was a herculean effort to install it across all products. This computerized help tool has had little use, and is often despised by users. Microsoft decided to create this feature based on almost no market input, instead relying on some customer focus groups. After making the enormous investment – in lieu of many other opportunities passed over internally – Microsoft simply became "married" to the innovation. Now "clippy" is still on the applications, but is almost never used. And it gives Microsoft's products no user advantage.
All companies can grow in 2010. You need to act more like Google. Develop early stage products quickly, and get them into White Space projects which will market test them. Don't spend too much time, money and effort "what iff-ing" or doing "market research" trying to predict future customer behavior. Listen carefully for market input, then modify. Have more than one opportunity in White Space, because you don't want to over-invest in any single idea that ran the internal gauntlet. Be ready to move forward quickly with things that work, and abandon those that don't. If you use give yourself permission to test new things in White Space, and resources, you too can grow in 2010 and climb out of this recession.
Just curious…under what conditions does ‘traditional’ market research play a role? You seem to deride it at every turn.
No, no, no, no, no! No, I’m not dumping on Google. My gripe is that you’re calling all the free stuff Google gives out its products. That isn’t how it works.
Google is a media company. Like most media companies, its product is us … people who visit its site. It bundles us up and sells us to its customers … advertisers who want us to notice them.
What you’re calling Google’s products are actually what anglers call chum … bait that’s thrown into the water to get us fish to swim around the boat so we can be netted up for sale.
Google isn’t innovating product. It’s innovating bait. Its product hasn’t changed since the first day it turned a profit.
Adam, great stuff as always. I heartily concur that almost any company with foresight, forbearance and a certain tolerance for risk can grow in this environment. However, I wonder about companies who are on the edge of defeat in public opinion (take banks for example) and how much room they would be given for failure with new ideas? Do companies like Google in the internet space have a better opportunity for the approach described?
To HatePomposity – I don’t give much credit to traditional market research. It can play a role in identifying variations and derivative products intended to Defend & Extend a brand – but that has diminishing returns. And too often even that research produces answers that miss what the market wants. Good as it may feel to use it, the results are too happenstance and low value for my money.
To Bob Lewis, you don’t think Android is a product? Or Buzz? Or Wave? I do see where some Google products draw hits for selling media, but Google seems to do quite a bit more than add chum to the water.
To Margaret Reynolds, any company can use White Space to redefine itself and improve both revenue growth as well as profits. And its really critical if you’re on the edge of failure. Move faster if you’re nearing the Whirlpool. And don’t box your thinking by your historical industry involvement or Success Formula.
I like Google as company and I do agree what Google says that its an innovative company.Google is truly a good growing company with effective results.I always like to see Google’s new applications and features.
To Margaret Reynolds, any company can use White Space to redefine itself and improve both revenue growth as well as profits. Google is best search engine in internet market it is such a best and first selection of internet users.