The way money is made on the internet is about to change. Which means the internet is about to change. Yes, all of it.
Ignore any line containing the phrase "$2.5 billion." The dollar figure is a formality. This isn't an acquisition. It's a teaming-up, a joining of forces. Google is D-Wade and Groupon is LeBron. Kobe? Amazon.
Amazon is the best at what it does, i.e. selling the way it sells. Trying to sell the way they sell, nobody ever stood a chance against them. Amazon is Wal-Mart in a world where Mom & Pop stores lack small town charm and are hidden on remote desert islands. You want to make money, you'd better build yourself a lighthouse with a helluva giftshop. Groupon, though, doesn't sell the way Amazon sells. They're totally different. And now they've got Google behind them, and everything that means. Watch out.
Everything Google's ever done, every service they've ever offered, was made (hugely) profitable through advertising, direct or indirect, of one form or another. Google makes money helping others make money. They sell to the salesman. With Groupon, they'll become the salesman. Everything is about to change.
From the outside, as a mere user of Google's services, it seems like unless you're working on something like Chrome OS, the most/best you can do as a developer is make sure nothing breaks. What are the biggest stories you read about Gmail?
At Facebook on the other hand, virtually any internal project could change, well, everything. There's an excitement to that which Google can't/won't offer. Facebook's business is change; all they think about all day is how to change things. Google has a vested interest in things staying the same (again, with the exception of Chrome OS).
Maybe the coding challenges Google faces just don't have the sex appeal Facebook's have. Maybe the "slowing down" they say Google is going through isn't about size or the limitations that come with. Maybe Google's just not as cutting-edge, not as thrilling as it once was. Maybe working for Zuckerberg and his 500 million closest friends, changing the way we communicate, and with a chance at being part of something revolutionary, is now most thrilling thing out there. Maybe by a lot.
Ignore any line containing the phrase "$2.5 billion." The dollar figure is a formality. This isn't an acquisition. It's a teaming-up, a joining of forces. Google is D-Wade and Groupon is LeBron. Kobe? Amazon.
Amazon is the best at what it does, i.e. selling the way it sells. Trying to sell the way they sell, nobody ever stood a chance against them. Amazon is Wal-Mart in a world where Mom & Pop stores lack small town charm and are hidden on remote desert islands. You want to make money, you'd better build yourself a lighthouse with a helluva giftshop. Groupon, though, doesn't sell the way Amazon sells. They're totally different. And now they've got Google behind them, and everything that means. Watch out.
Everything Google's ever done, every service they've ever offered, was made (hugely) profitable through advertising, direct or indirect, of one form or another. Google makes money helping others make money. They sell to the salesman. With Groupon, they'll become the salesman. Everything is about to change.