What would you do if you had a Google in your vertical? Would you patiently abide the pecking order? Would you beef up your stock, gaining more leverage and money within a respective space? Alpha, big-boy personalities don’t always play well. Sometimes they clash in an attempt to spread respective feathers.
Have you heard? Facebook recently acquired startup Instagram. It makes sense. Pictures are a huge factor in using Facebook. Mobile devices and smart phones are more popular than ever and building momentum. Zuckerberg and crew are savvy to align their camp with a picture application. Who else is a big boy on the block in the tech space? Give me a capital G for Google. Google knows well about the size and popularity of Facebook, perhaps to the point Facebook should be flattered. They say imitation is the sincerest form… G’s Google Plus social platform is similar to Facebook’s.
Hmm…Zuckerberg aligns with Instagram. Google, it’s your move. (They know.) Google is working on a project, Google Drive, the brand’s own version of the cloud. Consumers can store up to 5GB for free with more to covet for a fee. The service would ‘butt heads’ with standing services such as Dropbox and SkyDrive (Microsoft).
Google Drive will harness digital picture technology, allowing users to sift through high numbers of data formats including PDFs and photos (of course it will). I closely follow tech news and development. (It’s quite a commitment and entertaining to see the chess-like strategies of brands.) Google is making moves, breaching the cloud service market.
One good turn deserves another. Facebook, it’s your turn. “Facebook doesn’t have a cloud service but this may prompt it into an acquisition,” observes Richard Edwards of Ovum. He goes on to observe, “If Facebook bought Dropbox that would be a game changer.” Yes, but the game never ends… It would just be Google’s move at that point.
Edwards makes another good point, stating Google’s ability to engineer its cloud service to address the multiple devices leveraged by users as crucial. “I will be looking to see how I can synchronise content stored in the cloud to all my devices to access as and when I want.”
We are in the digital age. That means we are collecting digital assets, with no indication of ‘letting up’ on digital acquisition. Therefore, it makes sense for the game of business to focus on the ambiance of the age. The BBC story observes the growing popularity of digital assets by Britons; the trend looks similar on this end of ‘the pond’ as well. I think another observation within the BBC article succinctly sums up the essence of the ‘game’: [In anticipation of Google’s announcement, rivals have updated their own services.] Indeed, but one good turn deserves another…
