王者之爭(zhēng):Facebook與谷歌決戰(zhàn)未來(lái)(上)
????網(wǎng)絡(luò)向社交化的轉(zhuǎn)變?cè)诜椒矫婷娓淖冎竞拖M(fèi)者。最先受到?jīng)_擊的行業(yè)包括廣告業(yè)。目前,美國(guó)310億美元在線廣告市場(chǎng)中,谷歌的份額達(dá)到41%,而且在搜索廣告市場(chǎng),谷歌一直雄踞榜首。但搜索廣告的增長(zhǎng)正在放緩,廣告商開(kāi)始將有限的資金投放到Facebook。畢竟,F(xiàn)acebook擁有8億用戶,而且許多用戶在Facebook上停留的時(shí)間遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)其他網(wǎng)站。(見(jiàn)頁(yè)底圖表)預(yù)計(jì)今年Facebook的顯示廣告收入將增長(zhǎng)81%,而谷歌顯示廣告收入的增長(zhǎng)幅度預(yù)計(jì)為34%。雖然谷歌和Facebook讓我們認(rèn)為兩家公司仍有無(wú)限的成長(zhǎng)空間,但千萬(wàn)不要被這種假象所迷惑。正如美國(guó)投資銀行Stifel Nicolaus的分析師喬丹?羅翰所說(shuō):“如果谷歌與Facebook不直接交鋒,搶占對(duì)方的市場(chǎng)份額,它們根本不可能達(dá)到投資者的期望,在顯示廣告市場(chǎng)實(shí)現(xiàn)數(shù)十億美元的增長(zhǎng)幅度。” ????現(xiàn)在的佩奇就像十幾年前的比爾?蓋茨,他發(fā)現(xiàn)公司對(duì)科技世界的統(tǒng)治力正在下降。所以他決定反擊,投入巨大的精力爭(zhēng)奪社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)市場(chǎng)。佩奇成為谷歌CEO后的第一把火便是推出Google+,加大財(cái)力和工程力量的投入,對(duì)Facebook的領(lǐng)地展開(kāi)攻勢(shì)。其實(shí)Google+并非谷歌在社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)進(jìn)行的首次嘗試,但卻是谷歌第一款沒(méi)有遭到業(yè)界嘲弄的社交產(chǎn)品。谷歌稱(chēng),僅僅四個(gè)月內(nèi),Google +的注冊(cè)用戶便達(dá)到4,000萬(wàn)人。而在另一方,扎克伯格也非常清楚,自從Facebook輕松超越MySpace成為全球最大的社交網(wǎng)站以來(lái),Google+是Facebook遇到的第一個(gè)真正意義上的威脅。(對(duì)Facebook而言,這不僅僅是榮譽(yù)之爭(zhēng):如果公司的光環(huán)受到威脅,將會(huì)影響其期待已久的首次公開(kāi)招股。預(yù)計(jì)公司IPO規(guī)模將超過(guò)800億美元。)于是,在Google+發(fā)布后不久,扎克伯格便在總部緊急掛出粉紅色霓虹燈信號(hào),上面寫(xiě)著“戒備狀態(tài)”,目的是要提醒員工需要不分晝夜,加班加點(diǎn),借鑒Google+中最受歡迎的部分功能。 ????但防守并非扎克伯格的風(fēng)格。今年9月,在公司的F8開(kāi)發(fā)者大會(huì)上,他推出了海量的新功能,旨在從根本上提高目前的服務(wù)水平。而且,預(yù)計(jì)公司最終將會(huì)推出一個(gè)廣告網(wǎng)絡(luò),管理所有社交行為,幫助廣告商在網(wǎng)絡(luò)中更有效地鎖定目標(biāo)客戶。如果這一策略得到完美執(zhí)行,將會(huì)進(jìn)一步威脅谷歌在在線廣告領(lǐng)域中的霸主地位。 ????所以,當(dāng)大多數(shù)用戶輕松游走于Gmail賬戶和在Facebook訂閱的新聞資訊之間時(shí),在舊金山半島的核心地段,正在進(jìn)行一場(chǎng)激烈的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。今年夏天,扎克伯格為愿意在周末加班的員工提供免費(fèi)食物。而佩奇則催促他的團(tuán)隊(duì)以近乎瘋狂的速度為Google+添加新功能:在前90天內(nèi)推出了100個(gè)新功能。他們現(xiàn)在的決定,包括產(chǎn)品發(fā)布、廣告推廣等,將會(huì)決定最終的勝者。 ????谷歌 ????拉里?佩奇很不高興。當(dāng)時(shí)是去年春天的一個(gè)周末,38歲的佩奇正在安卓(Android)手機(jī)上試用Google+的早期樣品。他發(fā)現(xiàn)把拍攝的照片發(fā)布到Google+中的程序過(guò)于繁瑣。于是他打電話向谷歌社交業(yè)務(wù)負(fù)責(zé)人維克?剛鐸抱怨。剛鐸向他解釋了Google+團(tuán)隊(duì)為什么要采取那種方法,試圖說(shuō)服他。但佩奇堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為,照片應(yīng)該一鍵上傳。在谷歌,佩奇的要求都會(huì)得到滿足。于是,剛鐸命令團(tuán)隊(duì)重新設(shè)計(jì)照片上傳功能,現(xiàn)在,佩奇對(duì)這項(xiàng)技術(shù)贊不絕口。近期,他向外界描述通過(guò)安卓系統(tǒng)向Google+發(fā)布照片是多么簡(jiǎn)單:“這絕對(duì)是神奇的體驗(yàn)。” |
????This shift to a more social web changes everything for businesses and consumers alike. Among the first industries to be rocked: advertising. Google may capture 41% of today's $31 billion U.S. online advertising market, including the lion's share of the search-ad market. But growth in search advertising is slowing, and advertisers are putting more of their limited dollars into Facebook, with its 800 million users, many of whom spend more time on Facebook than on any other site. (See chart at the bottom of the page) Facebook's display-ad revenue is expected to grow 81% this year, while Google's display-ad dollars will rise an estimated 34%. Google and Facebook would have you believe there is room for each to drive forward with unlimited success, but don't be fooled. As Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan explains, "It's highly unlikely that either Google or Facebook could grow by the billions that investors expect in the display market without engaging directly and stealing market share from the other." ????Like Bill Gates a decade or so earlier, Page is seeing his company's grip on the tech world loosening. So he's fighting back with a mammoth effort to grab a piece of the social web. His first substantial act as Google's new CEO was to amp up the considerable financial and engineering mojo the company had aimed at Facebook's turf by releasing Google+. It's not Google's first social initiative, but it's the one that folks aren't laughing at, and Google says 40 million people have signed up in only four months. Across town Zuckerberg knows Google+ is the first credible threat Facebook has faced since it sailed past MySpace to become the world's No. 1 social network. (For Facebook there are more than bragging rights at stake: Anything that tarnishes its halo could impact its long-awaited initial public offering with a valuation that is expected to top $80 billion.) Not surprisingly, shortly after Google+ made its debut, Zuckerberg flipped on a pink neon sign at headquarters with the word lockdown, signaling that employees were on notice to work around the clock on, among other things, replicating some of the most praised Google+ features. ????But defensive moves are not Zuckerberg's style, and in September, at the company's F8 developers event, he unleashed a sea of new features that alter the current service radically. And it's expected the company will launch an ad network eventually that will harness all those social actions to help advertisers target consumers better across the web. Smartly deployed, it could further threaten Google's position as the king of online advertising. ????So while most of us spend our days casually toggling back and forth between our Gmail accounts and our Facebook newsfeeds, down in the heart of the San Francisco Peninsula it's war. Zuckerberg served free food this summer to willing workers on the weekends. Page is pushing his team to add features to Google+ at a furious pace: more than 100 in the first 90 days. The decisions that are being made right now -- product launches, advertising plays -- will determine which company prevails. ????Larry Page was not pleased. It was a weekend day last spring, and Page, 38, was playing around with an early prototype of Google+ on his Android phone. He found it too cumbersome to post photos he had just taken. He called Vic Gundotra, Google's social czar, to complain. Gundotra tried to push back, explaining why the Google+ team decided on the approach it had taken. Page insisted that photos be uploaded with one click. At Google, what Page asks for, he gets. Gundotra ordered his team to rebuild the photo-uploading feature, and Page now gushes about the technology. "It is a totally magical experience," he said recently, as he described how easy it is to post photos from Android to Google+. |