There was no doubt 2005 was yet another eventful year for Google, highlighted by its stock roaring through $400 and the $1-billion investment in AOL for a 5% equity stake. That said, I'm looking for even bigger things from Google in 2006. With $7-billion of cash, Google has the potential to do more than hire more engineers and continue its ambitious campaign to corner the market on the biggest brains (Vinton Cerf, Louis Monier, Kai-Fu Lee, etc.) in the high-tech world. Google has a lot more to offer than launching new services such as Google Talk and Google Maps - not to suggest they aren't cool and useful. In terms of services, I'd like to see Google get serious about its portal with some more bells and whistles and seamless integration between its applications. It would be the ultimate mash-up to see Blogger, Google News, Maps, RSS Reader, Talk, Picasa and search thrown together in one place. Google should also take a serious look at offering a browser (a.k.a. the GBrowser). As the Web-based applications company, it makes little sense not to control the browser, which is becoming the Web's operating system. So far, it appears Google is content to work behind the scenes to support Firefox but there's nothing wrong with giving Firefox a helping hand and developing your own browser. (By the way, Google owns the domain gbrowser.com) I'd also like to see Google get more ambitous about video/television - whether it's acquiring Tivo or working with content providers to deliver free and fee-based video streams and downloads. Apple's deals with ABC and NBC are just the tip of the video-on-demand iceberg, and Google could be a key player in the market's growth. It would be good to see Google enlighten us on its Internet access plans. Instead of strategic tidbits (i.e. a proposal to build a Wi-Fi network in San Francisco and the sponsorship of a Wi-Fi system in New York), I want to see Google come clean on why it has been buying tons of dark fiber. Is it going into the access business or creating simply a network and data centre plan to reduce its telecom costs while beefing up its services? What's interesting about all of these "suggestions" is do not require a lot of money. This gives Google the opportunity to move forward on a lot of different front and still have the cash to make a major acquisition. Maybe Google should take a harder run at AOL. Maybe it should buy a wholesale telecom carrier with lots of high-capacity pipe to carry all of those Google packets. Maybe Google should buy Knight-Ridder and turn the newspaper industry upside down. While few or none of these ideas seem to fit the modus operandi of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, I'd still like to see something really dramatic from Google in 2006.For a look at what Google did in 2005, BetaNews has an extensive review.
As my first full year of blogging wraps up - or "globbing" as my daughter calls it - here's a snapshot of 2005: