Book Review

The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture.

reviewed by: D. Manggala (December 12, 2005)

If Microsoft is the king of the IT kingdom, maybe Google is the prince. I personally admire Google as a different company among others in today's world. Its young spirit, geeky approach, and the most important its product (the search engine and gmail) make me a big fan of Googe.

However, John Battelle in his book titled The Search: How Google andIts Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture, gave me a more broad (and maybe more objective) perspective about Google. One of his thesis is that not only Google could be more big financially than Microsoft but it has the potential to be more "evil" than that Bill Gates' company. Why? Because the power that Google has by acquiring the knowledge of the world's knowledge in its superdatabase. Any single information that has been submitted, send, uploaded electronically via the internet will be saved by Google (and other search engines) and will stay there forever. The information could be usewd by anyone: government, friend, boss, company and bad people....

John Battelle explain the search business and its significant impact to the IT industries using Google as his central "actor". Being a tech journalist, Battelle could explains thoroughly and lively about the search engine industries and its big potential future. He seems have passion for the search industry which makes the book worth your time; and the sources are insiders like Larry Page, Segei Brin, and CEO Schmidt, the triumvirat of Googles, as well as employees of Googles, ex-Googles, competitors including some people whose business hurt by how Google determining the search rank.

Even though Battelle only uses Google's history as a basis to explain the importance of search today and in the future, but for one who want to read a brief history qabout this company and the history about the famous Google's "Don't be Evil" moto. The moto through a good public communication strategy had made this young company admired by various people froom IT geeks to businessmen to college students. But Battelle, provide examples how Google sometimes bent its own rules and makes it just another big corporate like Microsoft.

One other interesting story is the pathways of Google to jump in to Wall Street. Its stocks IPO (Initial Public Offering) has been a big news starting from when the rumors Google goes public firstly came out. There are a lot of coverages and hypes during the period of Fall 2003 until the day its finally launch it, Friday teh 13th August 2004. While we now know what the Google's stocks worth, this book give us the story behind it, for instance Page and Brin's reluctance of goes public versus their venture capital firms which push them to do so.

The rest of the book, Battelle explain in details about what a search industry could be in the future. That is interesting, but for me its the Google story that makes this book enjoy to be read. Even though Battelle criticize Google alot (or try to put a fair story on it) it most likely that I will not buy and read the book if Battelle do not put "Google" as the subtitle or change the cover design without Google's colors.