Resistance (of Google) is futile
Google is primarily an ad and software/service company, so why bother with hardware? Google has not only been in the smartphone operating system business for a few years now, but they even joined the fray and began developing their own hardware, the Nexus One, this year. Why would a company that focuses primarily on ad sales and developing software want to get into hardware as well?
I look at Google like the Borg. They want to assimilate everyone and have everybody using their services. The more people that use their services like Gmail, Search, etc... the more ads they display. Not only that but the more these people actually use the service, the better it gets at targeting ads to what is going to be most relevant to these users. As you use Gmail, Google scans your email automatically and displays ads that are relevant to the topic of the email, or things that are mentioned in it. As you search on Google they can store and analyze your searching habits to help provide you (and everyone else) with better results, which makes it easier for them to display relevant ads next to your search results.
Android is a great mobile operating system (and soon to be seen as a tablet/netbook one as well), but it's adoption rate compared to the iPhone has been relatively low. In order to increase this and assist with the assimilation process into Google's services, Google likes to give things away. When the G1 originally came out, Google gave one to all of their employees. When they hosted the I/O conference in May 2009, every attendee received a free HTC Magic. Just a few days ago, Google gave away a free Nexus One to TED attendees. Google is a great company and all, but they're not doing this for the benefit of the users (at least not completely).
As much as Google wants everyone to use Android, I think they just want everyone to use Google services instead. Why else make a mobile operating system that you give away for free and charge developers a paltry $25 (Apple charges $99 to publish applications created for it? They're obviously not making a profit off of a free operating system and phones that are created by other companies. They even priced the Nexus One competitively with other unlocked phones sold without a carrier contract. $529 for the Nexus One seems expensive, but when you consider that the retail price of an iPhone 3GS without a contract is $599, it's obvious that they're not trying to make a profit on that either.
By getting into the operating system and cell phone hardware market, Google opens up their options for giving people new ways to access their services and for Google to better display relevant ads to these users of their free services. Targeted mobile ads are starting to catch on (at least with Apple, since developers can't do this), and I'm sure Google wants a slice of this pie. Ads are their bread and butter and finding new, innovate, ways to target and display relevant ads to their users has got to be a huge priority. I don't really click on many links on my computer or iPhone, but if I were on vacation to an unfamiliar area and was looking for places using Google Maps I could definitely see how location-aware targeted ads would be useful for me and I'd probably use them. The better targeted these ads are, the more they can charge per click and the more likely users will be willing to click on them. Remember the days of the completely irrelevant banner ads trying to sell furniture on someone's personal pet website? Those didn't work and things have come quite a long way since then.
I'm all for ads, especially if I see them only in exchange for a free service. Ads that are displayed on something I pay for will absolutely receive zero clicks from me. While I'm not inclined to click on ads as-is, I'm totally open to the idea of unobtrusive and relevant ads being displayed to me on my phone and other things I use daily. If they really do provide me with a way to see or get something that I'm looking for, I have no problem clicking them. I like free stuff and don't mind if the people providing it make some money off of me. The only ads I've ever clicked are ones handled by Google and that's because they're good and actually helped me to find what I'm looking for. If Google wanted to give me a free phone in exchange for my mobile browsing habits, searches, location and used that to serve me ads that I actually want to click, I'll willingly join the collective.
I look at Google like the Borg. They want to assimilate everyone and have everybody using their services. The more people that use their services like Gmail, Search, etc... the more ads they display. Not only that but the more these people actually use the service, the better it gets at targeting ads to what is going to be most relevant to these users. As you use Gmail, Google scans your email automatically and displays ads that are relevant to the topic of the email, or things that are mentioned in it. As you search on Google they can store and analyze your searching habits to help provide you (and everyone else) with better results, which makes it easier for them to display relevant ads next to your search results.
Android is a great mobile operating system (and soon to be seen as a tablet/netbook one as well), but it's adoption rate compared to the iPhone has been relatively low. In order to increase this and assist with the assimilation process into Google's services, Google likes to give things away. When the G1 originally came out, Google gave one to all of their employees. When they hosted the I/O conference in May 2009, every attendee received a free HTC Magic. Just a few days ago, Google gave away a free Nexus One to TED attendees. Google is a great company and all, but they're not doing this for the benefit of the users (at least not completely).
As much as Google wants everyone to use Android, I think they just want everyone to use Google services instead. Why else make a mobile operating system that you give away for free and charge developers a paltry $25 (Apple charges $99 to publish applications created for it? They're obviously not making a profit off of a free operating system and phones that are created by other companies. They even priced the Nexus One competitively with other unlocked phones sold without a carrier contract. $529 for the Nexus One seems expensive, but when you consider that the retail price of an iPhone 3GS without a contract is $599, it's obvious that they're not trying to make a profit on that either.
By getting into the operating system and cell phone hardware market, Google opens up their options for giving people new ways to access their services and for Google to better display relevant ads to these users of their free services. Targeted mobile ads are starting to catch on (at least with Apple, since developers can't do this), and I'm sure Google wants a slice of this pie. Ads are their bread and butter and finding new, innovate, ways to target and display relevant ads to their users has got to be a huge priority. I don't really click on many links on my computer or iPhone, but if I were on vacation to an unfamiliar area and was looking for places using Google Maps I could definitely see how location-aware targeted ads would be useful for me and I'd probably use them. The better targeted these ads are, the more they can charge per click and the more likely users will be willing to click on them. Remember the days of the completely irrelevant banner ads trying to sell furniture on someone's personal pet website? Those didn't work and things have come quite a long way since then.
I'm all for ads, especially if I see them only in exchange for a free service. Ads that are displayed on something I pay for will absolutely receive zero clicks from me. While I'm not inclined to click on ads as-is, I'm totally open to the idea of unobtrusive and relevant ads being displayed to me on my phone and other things I use daily. If they really do provide me with a way to see or get something that I'm looking for, I have no problem clicking them. I like free stuff and don't mind if the people providing it make some money off of me. The only ads I've ever clicked are ones handled by Google and that's because they're good and actually helped me to find what I'm looking for. If Google wanted to give me a free phone in exchange for my mobile browsing habits, searches, location and used that to serve me ads that I actually want to click, I'll willingly join the collective.
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