Google and Verizon have formed an alliance that is sure to upset some Work At Home and Home-Based Business interests. Google and Verizon have partnered to bring a more positive user-experience to Verizon customers using Google digital content by favoring faster transmission speeds over other digital content providers using Verizon’s Mobile Broadband Network. Some have argued that this threatens Net Neutrality, which basically states that all Internet users have equal access to digital content and there is no favoritism given to one website over another. Does it really threaten Net Neutrality? Well, it depends on where you are in the grand scheme of things.If, you’re the beneficiary of the faster transmission of Google digital content when you’re using Verizon’s Mobile Broadband Network, you’d probably won’t mind paying extra to have a more positive user-experience. If, you’re using non-Google digital content on Verizon’s Mobile Broadband Network, you’re experiences may just be okay. If, you’re an investor in Google or Verizon, you’re probably feeling a bit excited about the possibilities that will unfold in the future. If, you have an opinion about Net Neutrality, then you may feel that the Google and Verizon joint venture will mean less freedom of choices for the Internet user. If, you don’t have an opinion about the Google and Verizon partnership, read on and maybe we can give you insights about where we think Google is headed.
If, you think of the Internet as a voluminous book that we are still reading and will never be finished in our lifetime, then you’d have some idea where we think Google is headed and that is to be on the first page of the Internet. You want to know what’s on that first page of the Internet? Well, we won’t keep you guessing, but if you guessed, mobility, you hit the nail right on the head. Why mobility you may ask? Where do you think the printed media, television, movies, music industry are going? Everyone is headed to the Internet and many of them are already there, but not in the way that they envision with the Next Generation Internet. Businesses and consumers alike want to make their content available for mobile Internet consumption. The mobile Internet will grow exponentially by leaps and bounds as more people migrate from non-Internet cell phones to phones capable of surfing the Internet. For some industries, it is sink or swim and for others it is to grasp more distribution channels and with it more growth. Google is such a company with the foresight to vision the future. In order to get on the first page of the Internet, which is all about mobility, Google has to align itself with a wireless carrier.
Wireless carriers due to their vast number of subscribers have become an important distribution network for digital content providers. In fact, a mobile Internet device, smartphone, mobile OS, and digital content can thrive or fail in the marketplace based on how well a wireless carrier’s relationship is with the digital provider and of course how well the wireless carrier performs. Compare that with a work at home or home-based business, you can do exceptional or dismal, based on your industry’s or niche’s performance in spite of your best intentions, but your chances of doing well increases when you have an experienced joint venture partner who can help accelerate your growth in the marketplace.
The first page of the Internet is mobility and the second page of the Internet are mobile Internet devices that make it easy to get on the Internet no matter where you are. The third page is social networking and the fourth page is Video. The fifth page is gaming in general and social gaming in particular and so forth and so forth. The order of the pages are less important, but it is important to understand that Google is laying down the foundation in which to base not only its digital content, but between all those pages online, there is mobile advertising, the next frontier online.
There is nothing new about contextual advertising or Internet advertising, so most people won’t object to having some mobile advertising, so long as they continue to get their favorite digital content at a reduced or for free. A significant portion of Google’s income come from online advertising and mobile advertising is the next extension of that.
Google wants to ensure that those who use its digital content over Verizon’s Mobile Broadband Network have a positive user-experience and for good reason. Google has enough of a stake in some of the biggest growth sectors on the Internet: digital content including “apps;” mobile Internet devices, such as a possible touch tablet and e-book reader; social networking, such as Orkut; video, such as Youtube; social gaming, sites like Slide and mobile advertising, think AdMob and with their recent buyout of Bump Technologies, touchscreens.
Verizon and Google have entered a partnership that will give Google special privileges on Verizon’s Mobile Network. For a company like Google that can afford to partner with Verizon for such wireless broadband preferences, Google’s digital content will be at a competitive advantage over other content and application providers who also use Verizon’s network, unless they pay of course. How this affects the work at home industry is that if they wish to have their content and applications continue as a pleasant user experience for their audience, they may have to pay for premium access to certain Internet transmissions over Verizon’s mobile broadband network. This could drive up the costs for some work at home and home-based business operations. Verizon’s partnership with Google however, does not affect landline-based broadband services such as DSL services.
Was this partnership with Verizon and Google inevitable considering that it is rumored that Verizon is in negotiations with Google to develop a touch tablet, possibly running the Android operating system? We will have to wait and see about Google’s possible entry into the touch tablet market. Some have have rumored that this may just be a ploy to get better negotiating leverage with Apple, Inc. Think AT&T and iPhone’s exclusive agreement and you can imagine a possible Apple, Inc. and Verizon agreement, but don’t hold your breath.
This past week, Google’s Android OS became the top selling smartphone operating system. Verizon is a large enough player in the United States to compete with AT&T if it too, could get an exclusive agreement with a conglomerate such as Google. Verizon has many mobiles that run on the Android OS. So, Google has a lot to be thankful for and now with their alliance with Verizon, the number 2 wireless carrier in the United States may just move into the number one position with Google as its partner.
Google is the leading search provider worldwide and love or hate Google, as a work at home entrepreneur, the reality is, it is very difficult to get anything done profitably, without Google’s assistance with its large range of applications and online tools. So, adapt or make less money or perish. Take Google’s income for example, of which a good portion comes from online advertising. So, ask yourself, is Google seeking more pages in the book of the Internet? Absolutely, preferential treatment on Verizon’s mobile broadband network would ensure that Google’s AdMob (mobile advertising) would perform favorable and possibly generate even more revenue for Google and Verizon. Could this be a preemptive move on Google’s part to solidify its mobile advertising platform?
Some people may feel that the Internet as a whole may be threaten by the Verizon-Google Pact making it more of a challenge for companies or individuals to get their new Internet wares to market, such as software and applications. Could this be Google’s attempt to position itself firmly in that component of the digital ecosystem, we call “apps?” This would certainly make it more difficult for software and apps developers to compete against Google’s, Android OS and its associated apps, unless of course those new software and apps, enhanced or added value to the Android ecosystem, strengthening Google’s mobility ambitions. What say you?
Companies that can afford to pay Verizon for preferential treatment on its mobile broadband network would have a competitive advantage over other companies who also use Verizon’s Network. Consider this for a moment. Most people outside of the developed countries get on the Internet using their mobile phones and most mobile phone users are prepaid. There are more cell phones in the world then computers, laptops, tablet computers, iPads and netbooks combined. The next frontier for companies, television networks, printed media and anyone else who is seeking to advance their online presence and potentially increase their revenue at the same time, is for the hearts and minds of those who access the Internet using their mobile phones.
Bear in mind that most people in the United States spend a minimum of six hours on the Internet a month and guess where their going and doing the majority of the time? The predominant activity online is interacting on a social networking site, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. That’s right the majority of the people the majority of the time are communicating with family, friends and strangers online and the second most dominate activity online in general is gaming and specifically, social gaming.
It’s no secret about Google’s entry into Social Gaming. That’s why Google has invested more than 150 million dollars plus into Zynga, the parent of the enormously popular social game, Farmville and Mafia Wars. Google put another 150 million plus to buy, social gamer Slide, parent of SuperPoke and SPP Ranch, which allows Facebook users to exchange virtual money for goods. Could this not only help with Google solidify its own social gaming ambitions and help it with its mobile gaming in the future seamless integration onto its Chrome OS and Android OS platforms?
As more and more people worldwide come online in the coming years, there will be more partnerships like the one between Google and Verizon. Could Google be setting itself up to make the user experiences for it’s Android ecosystem superior than that of its competitors? The Internet will be the same, but how quickly you get to certain content will get pricier if more wireless carriers adopt a similar partnership with Google. Is this Google-Verizon relationship evidence that any business can sell out its mission statement? Is Google abandoning its core ideas? Maybe Yes, No. It really depends on your beliefs and business acumen. First and foremost, Google is a business, Verizon is a business. The lifeblood of business are profits. In business, you either make profits or over the long-term you won’t be in business.
There will be plenty of opportunities for those in the work at home and home-based business sector who are attuned to the changes going on with the Internet and its infrastructure. There will be multiple revenue streams in pay per click publishing, affiliate programs of the companies that offer apps, mobile internet devices and a host of other new exciting products. So, the chances to make money online aren’t going away. It just make cost more to make more online. As confusing as it may seem at times, the Internet will continue to be a place where fortunes will be made and fortunes will be lost, but for those who have a sense for change and the ability to adapt quickly to the demands of Internet users, the Internet will be a fertile place to make or break the earnest of ideas. The wireless carriers will exert their influence as they have in the past, but the future belongs to the users and they aren’t going anywhere except maybe online.
