Rebirth of the Internet Overlord

Perhaps Robin Li and Ma Huateng didn't know that the emperor penguin master's thoughts were not on them at all.

At a distance of 20,000 kilometers from China, California in the United States is always 13 hours behind China due to geographical location and time zone. Therefore, April 1st in California is naturally later.

But at 9:30 in the morning, Larry Page was already sitting in the office.

This has been his habit in recent years.

Because, Google has not been having a good time recently.

As for Hans, the vice president in charge of Google's business in front of him, what he reported made me miss Sheryl Sandberg, the extremely capable female slut who used to sit in this position.

But anyway, that person has left Google.

"Cheryl rejected our proposal. After their cooperation with Bing expired this year, YouTube signed a three-year cooperation agreement again to continue to cooperate with Bing on search traffic.

Facebook, whose traffic has gradually surpassed MySpace, has also reached traffic cooperation with Bing. In other words, except for the webmaster alliance that we partially control, only MySpace will continue to cooperate with us."

Vice President of Business Hans frowned. Although this was his job, he did not report easily, which made Larry Page feel uncomfortable.

You know, Google invested 1 billion US dollars in advertising fees in myspace in exchange for three years of cooperation. However, the traffic myspace brought to Google was not as much as expected. In recent years, the growth of myspace has become increasingly mired in quagmire.

Because at the beginning, no one realized that the nature of myspace’s people was chaotic. As a result, the development of myspace in recent years has become increasingly chaotic, especially after News Corporation took over, they used more high-quality resources on their own group.

Business only.

If myspace didn't have a powerful search function,

If it weren't for Google, there would be no choice other than myspace.

Will Google continue to cooperate with MySpace?

Google does not,

But Google has no choice.

Because the situation reported by Hans is their current situation at Google.

In addition to the declining MySpace, Google only has some traffic from the Webmaster Alliance. The traffic giant Yahoo Portal has its own search engine, while the traffic upstarts YouTube and LinkedIn are unwilling to cooperate with them.

Although Amazon is currently cooperating with Google, Amazon’s investment in search engines is equally distributed. They have invested in traffic fees on Yahoo, Bing, Google and Microsoft. And Amazon’s future development trend is more like claiming to be a system.

company.

By that time, this company, which started as an online retail company, will also become one of the competitors that Google will face.

Can,

Google,

can hold it,

That day?

"I didn't see their president Reid Hoffman when I went to LinkedIn yesterday, and my discussions with their team in the morning felt perfunctory. Because no matter how I threw out the bait, the other party had no intention of following up.

.”

Hans did not notice Mr. CEO's mental activities, but sighed slightly. Although

Although it was an imperceptible movement, Larry Page, who had been paying attention to him, still clearly felt it.

"This is the situation that Google is currently facing. It is constrained at every turn and has no way out. It is like a trapped beast in the wasteland, guarding the search market that is gradually being eroded by Yahoo and Bing, and becoming a trapped beast in the last 12% of the space.

Fight."

Hans raised his head when he heard this, his frown filled with doubts.

Logically speaking, as the absolute leader of Google, Mr. CEO should not say such depressing words. But at this time, he directly put such words on the table.

Is it trust?

Not really!

This can only be said that Mr. CEO has no way to deal with the current predicament.

"Since Bing entered the United States in 2004, our market has been compressed by them." Larry Page said helplessly, "From a market share of nearly 40%, we have lost about 8% of the market every year.

Share. Thinking about it now, maybe we should focus on the search market at that time instead of expanding more business."

Focus on the market?

Isn’t it true that the longer you live, the more you will go back?

If Sheryl Sandberg, the vice president of business affairs at that time and former boss, had not discussed the cooperation with MySpace, would Google's market share today exceed double digits?

It can’t!

Thinking of this,

Hans sighed again in his heart.

perhaps,

When I let this strong woman go,

This is Google's biggest mistake over the years.

If she had stayed at Google, would Google still be what it is today?

All I can say is, one step is wrong and every step is wrong.

The helpless mood spread in the Google CEO's office, and for a while, the two of them had nothing to say.

I don't know how long this went on, but there was a rush of footsteps approaching from outside the door. As soon as they recovered, they heard a rush of knocking on the door.

The person who knocked on the door seemed to be in a hurry and did not take into account the possible impact.

Larry Page was very curious, and when he was about to answer the call, he saw the door being opened directly.

Sergey Brin appeared behind the door, and the serious expression on his face made the two people who looked at him feel depressed again.

"You have to take a look at this latest news," Sergey Brin said quickly, holding the monitor on Larry Page's desktop, "Quick, the front page headlines of the Yahoo portal!"

Hans's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt that something bad was going to happen.

This vice president is not usually like this, unless... something big happens...

When he was about to get closer, he saw CEO Larry Page's pupils shrinking rapidly, and he saw him sitting helplessly on the stool without giving up his shoulders.

At this moment, Hans knew that something big must have happened over there without even looking.

…

On the morning of April Fool's Day, people working in Silicon Valley and Wall Street will still check today's current affairs news on the Yahoo portal, Bing News and YouTube websites from time to time when they turn on their computers.

As people who are extremely sensitive to information, whether they are startup companies or financial practitioners, it is an essential skill for them to dig out useful information from clues every day and apply it to their careers.

On April 1 this year, Google still did not release any product information as it did in previous years. After all, Google has no longer had this intention since 2005.

Perhaps, they themselves feel that releasing information on April Fool's Day is a very nonsense thing, right?

Perhaps Bing is now powerful enough that Google has no intention of making fun of it anymore.

Or perhaps, releasing new news on April Fool's Day has now become a habit of Bing?

But no matter what, life and work have to go on, and there will always be something else worth paying attention to.

People who have had these thoughts in their minds do not hold back on the passing thoughts.

Until 10:00 comes.

A hot piece of information was posted by people.

Yahoo portal, bing news and the front page headlines of youtube website!

OMG,

So exciting!

Is this going to change?

…

Standing in the open-air Liberty Garden Press Center of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, Lu Qi no longer felt nervous about making his debut on April 1, 2005. Anyway, over the years, he has long been accustomed to releasing important news on an entertainment festival like April Fools' Day in the West.

information.

An hour ago, Lu Qi just finished talking to Ning Zimo. During this hour, he checked the press release he had prepared in advance again in his mind.

The news to be released today is probably more than just shocking.

Anyone with some discernment will definitely realize that the search market will undergo the biggest change.

"Sir, the time is up. The reporters outside are waiting for you."

Knocks and shouts appeared outside the door, and Lu Qi stood up in response.

Lu Qi, who was holding his speech and looking in the mirror, straightened his collar one last time, then tried to raise the corners of his mouth and looked at it. Lu Qi, who was ready for everything, opened the door.

Walking from the somewhat dim passage to the open podium, Lu Qi had become accustomed to the bright flashing lights around him.

Standing in front of the podium and looking past the microphones on the table, Lu Qi saw that all the reporters in the audience were looking at him attentively.

Lu Qi looked up at the bar and glanced around, finally withdrew his gaze and tapped the microphone.

"Gentlemen and ladies, welcome to this year's Bing conference..."

As soon as Lu Qi spoke, the flashlights in the audience flashed again.

But those shining lights were partially blocked by his eyes, and his mind was also caught up in the breaking news.

"In 2008, Bing's U.S. search market share reached 41.7%, and revenue reached 16.1 billion, of which advertising revenue accounted for 85%. This means that our investment in Bing in the United States over the past few years has received an equal return.

.”

Bing is not a listed company, so there is no need to release financial reports to shareholders every year.

But starting from 2005, Bing will release corresponding plans on April Fool's Day and make public last year's financial statements.

Those achievements displayed in front of the world are like a dull knife, slowly cutting through Google's flesh.

Although Lu Qi doesn't know why Bing must be targeting Google, he knows that in the field of search, Google, which focuses on search, is indeed the most worthy competitor!

In this case, let the storm come more violently!

"This year, Bing will launch a comprehensive cooperation with Cheetah Browser, a subsidiary of China's Emperor Penguin Company. We will sign an annual search cooperation contract worth 1 billion with Cheetah Browser."

boom!

The audience immediately went into a frenzy!

Seeing this situation, Lu Qi raised his arms to press down, and continued with a raised voice, "In other words, Bing will serve as the sole search technology partner of Cheetah Browser and provide professional services to all users of Cheetah Browser.

Search for technical services!”

Just as Lu Qi spoke, a group of arms suddenly rose up.

The host and Lu Qi looked at each other and immediately picked up the microphone, "I would like to invite a reporter from the New York Times to ask a question."

"Mr. Lu, why does Bing spend such a large amount of money to cooperate with Cheetah Browser?"

"Gentlemen, in the past four months, we have carefully tested Cheetah Browser and collected user opinions from a small user group." Lu Qi replied, "As an important tool for users to surf the Internet, the browser needs to have a

A more convenient user experience, and the feedback we have received from users is that Cheetah Browser has such qualities."

"Mr. Lu, does this mean that Bing will compete with Microsoft?"

"Oh, no, no, gentlemen."

Lu Qi quickly waved his hand. Although Bing will become the opposite of Microsoft one day in the future, at least that day is not today.

"Bing focuses on search services and is committed to providing users with better search services..."

"Mr. Lu, may I ask..."

"Mr. Lu, may I ask..."

Facing the increasingly harsh questions, Lu Qi couldn't help but think of the boss's calm tone.

And his answer,

Also very orderly.

…

Hans watched the press conference of the World Trade Center in Manhattan that was simultaneously broadcast live on YouTube, and felt that his already tangled heart had already fallen into an ice cave.

Browser! That is the original source of Internet traffic. In the past, Netscape Browser and Microsoft Internet Explorer fought for this largest Internet traffic entrance. But now, Internet Explorer has become the browser tool with the largest number of users.

.Although it has been criticized by many people, it is undeniable that without IE, 70% of the traffic will be reduced.

But there is a Chinese Emperor Penguin company that dares to stand up and launch a browser product at this time? And Bing will actually reach a 1 billion annual cooperation with this company?

The important thing is that their Google Chrome browser is still open.

Why is this Cheetah browser launched first to seize the market, just like the dispute between gmail and gbmail in the early years?

Hans slumped on the stool, he could no longer care about the reactions of the two Google founders in the room.

Perhaps, they feel like they are in an ice cave.

Because, after Bing teamed up with Cheetah Browser to do this.

Google has a 12% share of the U.S. search market.

How long can it continue?

…

Half an hour later, when Lu Qi walked off the podium, the news reporters in the audience couldn't wait to disperse outside the door. They had to find a place to send out today's news because the news was so explosive!

Bing not only wants to seize more search traffic market,

It is more likely to shake Microsoft’s browser dominance!

What on earth were they thinking?

Turning the corner and walking into the passage, Lu Qi had forgotten the turbulent situation just now. At this moment, his mind recalled the conversation he had with the boss a long time ago.

"We must compete for the browser, the largest entrance to PC Internet traffic. After all, Google no longer has much ability to compete with us, but we need to continue. So in this next step, we must face

Competition between Yahoo and Microsoft.

But you don’t have to worry. Although Yahoo ranks second, it is not our opponent at all technically. And although Microsoft has dominated the browser industry for several years, as long as we lay it out properly, we still have a lot of calculations.

of."

Lu Qi's mind flashed back to the boss's calm smile with the corners of his mouth raised at that time. Although the three opponents he described had a combined market value of hundreds of billions of dollars, his tone was calm and calm.

"The European and American markets have their own rules, so we must abide by the rules to compete with them. We don't follow the route of rogue software and even paid specifically to silence the European and American antitrust agencies."

Ning Zimo said with a smile, "One day in the future we will let them know that in their market system with established rules, we have many ways to defeat them openly."