Well the dot-com’s are back. This time though, there’s only one dot-com, and this time the company has developed a solid business model through years of being a private corporation before turning to public investment dollars. Of course I’m talking about Google which made it’s initial IPO August of last year at $85 dollars a share. Since then it has almost quintupled in value at $400 dollars a share and the stock keeps going up. My question now is how high can they go? Will Google’s bubble burst? So far they have held true to their “do no evil” model by centering almost their entire revenue stream around advertising thereby allowing them to offer services for free. What has made them so popular and unique, however, is that not only are their services useful, they’re also bleeding edge, the best out there with features that people want. They have revolutionized webmail (the Gmail “conversation” feature is a simple concept but a true innovation); they have blown away all other mapping services; they have embraced and contributed to the Web 2.0 social revolution (although I would say the “Web 2.0″ is something that has evolved independently of Google); and of course they have redefined the concept of search and information finding.

Just recently, Yahoo released a beta of their new mapping service. One thing that is immediately apparent is that the rendering engine that they use looks oddly identical to Google’s. They’ve also replicated Google’s “draggable” interactive interface and included other features like traffic monitoring (not quite ready for primetime), and point-to-point driving directions (which is actually quite useful and something that Google does not have). In any case this raises the question, when will Google cease to be the best at everything? They’re trying to take on all of the giants including Microsoft (Google Desktop), Yahoo ([insert Google web service here]), and there have been rumblings of a service in the works (Google Base) which will pit them up against eBay. I’m waiting for them to come out with their own media distribution service and ruffle the feathers of iApple.

We’re seeing Yahoo react to Googlemania. We know that Microsoft will react (since that’s all they do). Can Google take on all of the giants of the tech world and still come out on top? I’m not so sure. Oh and as an aside, where are the highway exit numbers on these maps? Google? Yahoo? Mapquest has had them for years. Let’s try and keep up.

In any case, the new Google Blog Search tool (released in Beta form in typical Google fashion) operates using this same technique as most of the existing blog search services out there. Early returns seem to indicate that it is similarly useful to all of the other players in this particular niche service industry. However, since it’s Google, I would imagine that Technorati et. al. are none too happy (and yet none too surprised) that Google has entered into direct competition for the services that they provide.

In any case, maybe a year or two ago, the phrase “miserable failure” was used in a Google bombing scheme like I just described above. Can you guess what website suffered as the victim of this bombing? Here’s a link to a search for “miserable failure” on Google so that you can see for yourself.

Some early reviews are already out at downloadsquad.com and also at the Unofficial Google Weblog. I haven’t yet tried it myself since I’m on a Linux machine at the moment (Google Talk currently only has a Windows client), but I have confirmed that you can connect to the Google servers with Jabber using GAIM.

For those who are unaware, Jabber is an open source instant messaging protocol that has been around for quite some time now. In my opinion, it would be fantastic if it was somehow established as the de facto standard for the instant messaging industry and this is why:

• The Jabber protocol itself is open source so it is and always will remain free.
• Jabber works very similar to email and has a hierarchical communication and administration mechanism. For example, suppose there are two users that want to communicate using Jabber. Each Jabber user must be registered with an active Jabber server (much like an email server) and Jabber usernames look just like email addresses. Suppose we have the Jabber servers doe.com and major.com running. User john@doe.com can contact mary@major.com using any Jabber enabled client. Much like the email system, messages are handled by the corresponding servers and then instantly displayed in the clients’ IM windows.
• Because Jabber has an open architecture, you are not locked into one IM client or one IM administrator or “the IM system that all your friends use.” There are many Jabber-enabled clients out there and they are all capable of communicating with one another.

If the rumors about Google Talk are in fact true, then we might have a big enough natural marketing engine to convert users to the Jabber-enabled client and finally establish instant messaging as the open and completely inter-operable system that it should have been all along.

For example, I’m looking around to find some additional memory for my desktop pc. What’s the standard thing to do when you want to buy electronic items like that? or any item for that matter? For me anyways I peruse the online databases of relevant store websites like BestBuy, Circuit City, etcetera, etcetera. This is kind of annoying though. You have to search each store’s website individually, which takes time by itself. What’s more, all of them have slightly different structures, navigation schemes and basic user interface designs. Now what would be really cool? How about a tool that integrates the store databases of all relevant stores along with their physical locations, individual inventories, and prices. Integrate Google Maps and now I can search for the exact type of memory that I’m looking for and the results page compiles pricing and inventory information for all matches from all relevant stores in my geographical area.

Anyways, it’s just a thought and one of the many applicable applications of Google Maps. Who knows, maybe somebody’s done it already.

Then of course just recently they incorporated satellite imagery into their map system. That feature is very neat, but not as useful as it could be because it is often difficult to determine which roads are which because you were basically looking at raw satellite images with no labels.

Enter Google hybrid maps! The new hybrid map feature takes the satellite image and overlays the graphical road map complete with labels and road numbers directly onto the image. Thus it combines the actual physical view of the area with the simplicity of a standard road map! I included a link to a map centered on Fenway Park for your viewing pleasure!

One thing that continues to puzzle me about Google, though, is why so many of their services seem to be perpetually in the beta testing phase? Gmail for example has been live for years now and it has millions and millions of users using it for their primary email. Then what about Google News? All it is is a news syndicator that pulls live feeds from existing news websites. I understand that maybe there are bugs in it? or maybe not all the features are fully implemented? But honestly, it’s news pulled from other websites, why is the beta tag even necessary here? Then of course there are things like Google Groups and Local Google which both are highly sophisticated and popular usenet sites and local business search sites respectively. Yup they’re beta too. The list goes on and on.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think Google’s services are great. Not only are they great but they are free and completely supported by advertising revenue. This probably immediately eliminates my right to complain about them. I’m not complaining about the services themselves though. I just think that because Google carries so much clout in the online world, they have literally redefined the definition of the word beta. What does beta mean? Is it a rock solid service that has been running for years and is established as a leader in the field? But wait there’s another feature that we haven’t finished implementing so it’s still in beta? That sounds kind of ridiculous to me. Beta is supposed to be a product that’s ready for demoing or even using but is not quite polished enough for fully supported consumer use.

In any case I don’t mean to bash Google too badly because they continue to do great things for the industry. Including Google hybrid maps! (I think I’m the only one excited about this). I just wish they would stop hiding behind that ridiculous beta tag and own up to the truly great services that they offer.