Google Comes Clean on Microsoft will take a jab at Office Applications

Google CEO Eric Schmidts says the new tagline for Google will be "Search, Ads and Apps" indicating they will pursue more into Office Applications area.

Google today officially confirmed what many analysts have been saying for months: the Mountain View, California-based search leader is going after the software market in direct competition with Microsoft. Google so far said its main area of focus is only on search and ads but not much on Office Applications and said it won’t go against Microsoft and compete in Office applications despite its Google Apps (a set of office application for online collaboration). But today at its annual Shareholders’ meeting, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that Google’s new tagline will be “Search, Ads and Apps.” Google launched Google Docs, a set of applications documents and spreadsheet software that looked similar to Microsoft’s Word and Excel programs but didn’t have too many features like Microsoft’s. And slowly it added more features since then; still it is too early to say it is a better alternative than Microsoft Office. However have some good features such as collaboration and online storage of documents which the Office doesn’t have. Schmidt said with desktop applications when the computer crashes, the data also might get lost in the process whereas with Google Docs its data is preserved with its online based application. The data are saved frequently to prevent its loss.

“There should be a rule against this,” Mr. Schmidt said. “If you think about it from a data perspective… What you would prefer is a trusted partner to keep all the information and have it for you on every device.” Google is not making much money with its Google Docs application; most of Google’s revenues come from its advertising business. Schmidt also pointed out Google Calendar application and how easy it is share the data with the group. With the Calendar one can invite a large number of groups by using Google GMail address lists without typing each and every e-mail address, so one can organize a meeting or arrange a party easily with the calendar collaboration feature. Google also started selling its Search appliance to businesses so they can use the tool to across the company (intranet) as well as internal business applications. They sell this for a premium amount and many Fortune 500 companies use this Google Search Appliance. Google now sells “Google Apps Premier Edition” which contains e-mails, calendar, Messenger, Word Processing and other applications including customer service. The main selling point is all this can be accessed online anywhere and they don’t have to worry where the files are stored. It is a great tool for all types of businesses. Perhaps the most basic challenge to Microsoft, though, is the Office-clone word processing and spreadsheet programs. Whether Microsoft will offer the office applications online we have to wait and see. In the shareholders’ meeting, one woman asked Schmidt and Google co-founder Larry Page about competing against Microsoft in Office Applications category and asked them how they would avoid becoming known as “the new Microsoft and not in flattering terms”. Larry Page responded and said Google is a different company and has a different philosophy. He said: “Our engineers all run Linux. It’s free. You can hack on it. It’s deep in our DNA” He said the search is a huge market, the company has to grow in stature and he still feels that Google is like a startup. That is a scary thought, which just shows they are not content where they are and they will enter into new areas and markets. And give the best possible services to its Google shareholders and most important of all to its customers.