Google’s Microsoft Moment – Anil Dash
Great post by Dash, and great response by Google’s Matt Cutts.
Google seems very lucky to have Cutts, who doesn’t shy away from publically talking about things like this. He understands that there is a very real threat that Google could have its “Microsoft Moment” any year now, even if they aren’t doing anything explicitly evil to bring it about.
It’s all about how the public perceives companies when they get to a certain size and seem to permeate every part of our lives. Tolerance for any sort of slip-up is very low.
In general terms, the public loves the underdog story (which Google was). Loves to hate the person on top (which you could argue Google is getting close to). But then loves the comeback story (which is I think what we’re beginning to see with Microsoft right now).
I too think the big time public backlash against Google is sadly inevitable. It’s just the way the world works. And Cutts & co. will try their hardest to prevent it, but sooner or later, people will be at the company that let it slightly veer off course.
But there’s a wild card: Products. If the products still kick ass, that’s all that matters. Any sin can be forgiven if the products are good. Microsoft dropped the ball in that regard for many years, and so it was open to the criticism. Google hasn’t dropped that ball yet. Can it hang on?
