Today got a call from a friend who has got this interview for a Product Manager position at Google and wanted to discuss a set of questions that Google guys had given him in advance to ponder and think about. The questions were the run-of-the-mill kinda around competitive strategy, improvements etc. but one theme stood out - What is next for Google ? How are we gotta stay big and stay the best ?

So, I got into this long discussion with my friend and came up with a few ideas off-the-cuff. And, as somebody who really respects and looks up to Google (most times for sure :-), except when they are not trying to copy / play catch-up), I thought I should pen these down and who knows, they might listen, copyright free :-).

What is Google's biggest problem, really ? According to me, it is the fact that their core product - the supremo search engine (>80% of their revenues) doesn't have a 'customer lock-in', the day some Zuckerberg invents a better algorithm, Google is dead - unlike Apple and Microsoft, courtesy their iOS and Windows ecosystem. To stay relevant with its current biz model, Google has to constantly stay at the top of search innovation - and law of sizes say that once a company / product grows large, it competes by volumes and 'being stable' rather than being an innovator - in my experience their have been only a few exceptions, not sure if Google can be one, given the imperatives from its recent reversals in the Social networking and OS space.

So, what are the opportunities for Google ? Here's my take:

1) Looking at the online space,

2) Is there an opportunity for Google in the OS space through Chrome? I would think so, especially if it can create a wholesome ecosystem experience around the PC, Mobile, tablet and other future devices :-) - something which Microsoft summarily failed at (Its amazing na, how a market leader by miles can even miss a few tricks !). Its very important that Google marries Chrome with Android and ensures a seamless user experience across its devices - come to think of it, Google Voice can be a key hinge of this ecosystem. But, Google shouldn't try to create a "closed" loop system, it has to realize other OSes will continue to thrive and it will be useful to support the other OSes rather than let 3rd party vendors do a sub-optimal job.

3) In the physical space, I think Google needs to worry about creating a lock-in product, even go macro and think about evolving into a Telecommunications giant (feasible ? I dunno) but a "branded" mobile here and a netbook there aren't going to do - you need to get atleast one physical niche product right.

Finally :), a bit of selfish requests, but here are a few changes I would love to see in the Google space:

1) Create feasible Mobile Apps for all their sites across all Operating systems - currently Blogger and Reader are glaring misses on both Blackberry and iOS platforms. It is kind of frustrating to buy third-party apps to do what should come naturally in-built into the system.

2) Currently in Google Reader, it will be kool to have a Google Alert kinda feature which emails selected RSS feeds as they are updated - Push is the way to go, aint it :-) ?

With that, I rest my case !

Have fun !

Ranjan