Google is currently the most dominant presence on the internet, expanding into all aspects of our life and like it or not big part of the way we do business.
But let’s pose a hypothetical question… What would it be like if Google didn’t exist?
What products would we have lost, how would the internet landscape look and who would be the new superpower?
So imagine this: Overnight, Google has been erased from the world. Its search engine has been wiped from existence, all its products have been pulled and all its merger and acquisitions never happened. What if Google didn’t exist?
Search
So first things first, Google Search. Current figures project that Google has a penetration rate of between 90-96% in the European market (outside Russia). Basically, this means nearly everyone in Europe uses Google in some way as a search engine.
Without Google search we’d all need to find a different search provider: Bing, Yahoo or maybe some of the popular foreign search engines like Yandex or Baidu. It’s also as likely a newcomer would step up to the plate to replace Google.
Advertising
This loss of Google would have a huge impact on the value of internet advertising. For those who don’t know how Google makes its cash: it’s in adverts, or more specifically selling targeted adverts to companies. Google matches up your search needs with a targeted ads. You search for a Kettle, it’s likely you’ll be presented with shopping options for a kitchen appliance website.
Other search engines do this but not as successfully as Google. If you remove Google from the equation it’s likely the value of online advertising would plummet. Online only stores would have to completely change strategy, likely costing billions finding a replacement. In turn pumping up the cost of online goods.
Browser
Past money, let’s move onto more tangible day to day things. Your computer: If we lose Google we lose its free browser Chrome. This year Chrome surpassed Internet Explorer as the most-used browser worldwide, so without the Google browser, 46% of you internet users out there would need a new way to access the internet.
You’d also need to replace the plethora of plugins and apps that come with Chrome like translate, docs and calendar.
Navigation
I hope you haven’t thrown your SatNav away because mapping just got a little harder. The pan-platform navigation software Google Maps with StreetView would be stripped from our grasp along with every daydreamer’s time-killing friend Google Earth.
Google Office
Email, the backbone of office life and the reason none of us have to bother with the post office anymore.
Well, after Google goes, you’d better consider switching to a new email system as Gmail would be out of the door. It might be riddled with privacy issues but a lot of us use it, in fact a staggering 500million users are active on the email platform.
Sticking with the office theme, without Google, we’d lose the online catalogue of literary works stored in GoogleBooks, the education publications of Scholar and the online sharing space of Google Docs.
For those who haven’t forked out for a Microsoft Office package, it’s likely you’ll be using Google’s free alternate, ‘Quick Office’ – Well that’s gone. Cough up for Office guys.
Cloud
Cloud storage has come a long way in the last few years and the one of the biggest movers has been Google. Looking to compete with OneDrive, Dropbox and iCloud, Google Drive offers a pretty hefty 100GB of storage (depending on your device) to its users. Better shift those precious files off there before it closes.
Video
One of the more alarming voids to our Google exit would be Youtube. Yep that’s right, you remember now, YouTube is Google!
Purchased in 2006 for a tidy sum of $1.6 billion, the beloved online video giant would be eradicated from the web along with about six million cat videos. We’d all have to migrate over to something like Vimeo or DailyMotion for our fix of pointless videos… I do hope they allow cat clips…
Chromecast, the cost effective streaming devices have been a huge success for Google challenging the market dominance of ROKU and Apple. Exact figures haven’t been release by Google on the number of Chromecasts sold, but the figure is expected to be in the millions. It would’nt be the biggest loss to the world but frustrating, especially as we’re on the verge of an Android TV launch.
Social
Nobody panic, but the loss of Google would spell the end of everyone’s least favourite social platform G+.
Yep unless you work for Google, or have a particular penchant for the Cirlces, I’m pretty sure we all signed up for G+ just to get into Youtube… I can’t imagine this will be well-mourned loss.
However unloved G+ is, it will leave a big gap in a lucrative social market, ripe for a business orientated social platform.
Amateur bloggers despair! The second most loved blogging platform ‘Blogger’ would cease to exist. The platform was purchased in 2003 by Google for an undisclosed fee. Better get yourself over to WordPress so you don’t lose your loyal reader.
ReCaptcha
I think we could muster up a pretty healthy petition to remove this time wasting, hair-loss inducing, frustrating mess from the Google repertoire.
The much hated online verification system, ‘ReCaptcha’ has tortured users with indecipherable squiggles and jaunty numbers cryptic since 2009. If Google goes it goes… just think of that for your next revolution.
Hardware
Let’s move away from the internet and into Google’s hardware department.
Users of the world’s most popular operating system Android, might want consider a change of direction as their phone will be absolutely useless without Google.
Keeping with the phone theme and depending on your technological viewpoint, the once mighty Motorola (mobility) would cease to exist. Users of a Nexus or Moto handset would be doubly screwed, no manufacturer or operating system.
Have you got a Chromebook? Well after the Google rapture it’s a £300 tea coaster and your Android tablet is now just a really bad mirror… you might also want to steer clear of that self-drive car, it’s probably causing havoc in suburban California.
Google Glass, are you fed up of everyone talking about it yet? Well don’t worry it doesn’t exist anymore. You don’t have to risk being hit by a lorry after trying to read BBC news on the go.
Back home, if you were one of the early adopters of the NEST smart thermostats, you’ll need to book a plumber pretty soon, Google bought the company in 2013 for $3.2 billion and without their final investment NEST would have likely stayed on the drawing board.
And, unfortunately for the fine people of Kansas, Austin and Provo their fancy new Google Fibre would have to be dug up. Back to Comcast for you!
Future
So how about future operations that’d be axed? Well the ventures dreamed up in the ‘Google X’ secret hanger would never make the grade and the move towards smart homes/cities would take a set-back.
Reality
In truth, this isn’t everything Google as company has to offer, it’s probably the tip of the iceberg.
If Google did vacate the market, in many cases these orphaned companies and products would probably pack up shop and rebrand elsewhere.
Or alternatively another ‘super-company’ would simply fill the void, gathering the rubble from the fallen giant and begin building its own empire.
Recent events have focused a lot of hate around the way Google conducts its business; tax avoidance, ridiculous spending and loose privacy morals… but is it just a big target we can all aim for or are there serious concerns that need addressing by the company?
Whatever’s decided it’s interesting to note the theoretical impact a loss of a company the size of Google, Microsoft or Apple could mark.
Might be about time you considered backing up your data after all?
