If you spent the weekend recovering from a hangover (like some of us), you probably missed the latest rash of articles declaring that the end of Google is nigh. On Saturday, tech entrepreneur and academic Vivek Wadhwa ranted on TechCrunch that Google’s spammy search results and a propensity to promote its own useless products have rendered it woefully inadequate as a search engine. On Sunday, Business Insider wondered if Google was the next Yahoo — you know, once dominant and seemingly indestructible and now on a collision course with its own obsolescence. But in the first of a series of interviews with Mediabistro’s WebNewswer, Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of consumer products, confirmed some rumors that might help convince young companies it’s safe to step into Google’s hulking embrace. Now that Google’s an aging, overly diversified company that outsources innovation to more nimble start-ups, the corporation took a big blow when Groupon shrugged off its $6 billion buyout offer. But Mayer assured WebNewser that being associated with Google doesn’t have to hurt a start-up’s cachet with consumers.
“I think that we have both a good structure for companies that get integrated into Google and we also have a new construct called an autonomous unit where we basically will buy a company and leave it very independent.”
Hmmm, sounds an awful lot like Please come back! We swear it’s not contagious!
Marissa Mayer on Google’s Failed Groupon Bid [WebNewser/Mediabistro]
Related: Google Doesn’t Sound Very Sorry It Pushed Down Competitors’ Search Results
Is Google’s Paying $6 Billion for Groupon Another Sign That the Tech Bubble Commeth?
Hmmm, sounds an awful lot like Please come back! We swear it’s not contagious!
Marissa Mayer on Google’s Failed Groupon Bid [WebNewser/Mediabistro]
Related: Google Doesn’t Sound Very Sorry It Pushed Down Competitors’ Search Results
Is Google’s Paying $6 Billion for Groupon Another Sign That the Tech Bubble Commeth?
