What Would Google Do?

What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis is, according to its own inside flap, “one part prophecy, one part thought experiment, one part manifesto, and one part survival manual.” Jarvis uses Google Inc. as a model of the ideal business in a society which is changing both technologically and culturally. Jarvis posits that Google exemplifies the proper way for a company to function in the new, “gift economy” wherein, “the mass market is dead, replaced by a mass of niches” (Jarvis 3). Google’s quest to, “organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful” (Google) has been a direct cause of the rise of the mass of niches through the process of “virtuous circles” – in which the customers and the corporation benefit each other through use of and input on the corporation’s service. Jarvis’ main goal with the book is to show, through the Google example, that in the internet age there is a new way to be successful in business, and it is the Google way. Jarvis looks at the progression of media, business, and the internet as co-dependent. He believes Google to be a corporation which has encapsulated most of the elements required to thrive in the new e-marketplace. Jarvis also aims to prove that the Google model is applicable to other markets ranging from education to toilet paper. He attempts to show that through a fresh outlook and a reassessment of what business a business is in, along with the construction of a network for discourse between company and client, any business can prosper. Jarvis’ bias is clear; Google is the model business and all others should strive to follow in its footsteps.

A key misstep made by Jarvis is his overuse of the book’s namesake, Google. Jarvis himself admits that Google...

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... for shopping and learning.” Changing the structure of education to fit the personalized, Googilized internet model would not serve the best interest of the student.

Jeff Jarvis’ What Would Google Do? is full of interesting and innovative thought for the future of industry, which transcends web 2.0 and proposes marketplace 2.0. While Google may not be a perfect example for how to function in the world of the New Web, it is more than simply serviceable. This is due to the fact that Google has been a presence which has shaped how every person uses the internet since its beginnings ten years ago. Jarvis clearly has an understanding of Network Society and uses that understanding as a basis for an extension into the world of business. What would Google do? is a question that many – but not every – businesses, social structures, and industries should ask themselves.