What Google is Doing Right
One of the key things Google is doing correctly is making it easy to access Google services from a variety of places and a variety of devices. Just today a mobile version of Google’s Notebook service was released (found here). Suddenly, Google Notebook has become nearly as valuable to me as del.icio.us.
The key element is Google is increasing the value of their services, increasing the stickiness, and increasing the general use per person (and therefore advertising). For example, with Gmail I’ve been able to access my email from my Mac, my work PC, my Blackberry, my iPhone, and any public terminal. Now with IMAP it is even better. I can access Google Maps from any computer, plus my iPhone, Blackberry and SMS.
The sheer volume of options for accessing these services leaves me not the least bit interested in looking at any other services. They all work so well, across so many devices there is no need to look elsewhere. And this is the strength Google is creating as a company - and this is why Google will continue to earn strong profits and have happy users. These are the reasons I really think Google has room to continue growing, and to come up with new ways of monetizing an increasingly attentive user base without alienating those users which are the lifeblood of the company.